Western Region calls for modification of appointment of DCEs

Takoradi, Sept. 29, GNA - Residents in the Western Region have called for the maintenance of the 1992 constitutional model on the nomination of District Chief Executives (DCE) by the President. They however called for few modifications to make the system less political and more of a local based initiative. They said instead of the President nominating the DCE, the DCE should be directly elected by the population in line with the election of assembly members.

The participants said this at a regional policy dialogue on the theme "election or nomination of the district chief executive -option for the promotion of an effective, efficient, transparent and accountable district governance system". Mr Kwesi Jonah, a lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, said for people to enter into politics they must be elected and not nominated in order to stop corruption, patronage and other corrupt practices in local governance. He said Ghanaians with requisite education should participate in the governance of the country because politics was not as dirty as perceived by the public.

Mr Jonah said chiefs should be allowed to play roles in the local governance system to instil their non partisan character into Ghanaians. He said for the public to understand the local governance system, there should be a lot of civic education to broaden their knowledge about the system.

Mr. Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association, said corruption at the local government level was a serious problem that needed to be tackled. "Local government is at the centre of our national governance and to avoid corruption various institutions must be properly strengthened to make them more effective in checking it," he said. Mr. Blewu said once the issue about election or selection was concluded, proposals would be sent to the Constitution Review Committee to critically study the various options and adopt the best practical option for Ghana.