The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) is advocating for a review of the country’s decentralisation Act to make Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) answerable to the people and not the President of the Republic.
“Once the MMDCEs are elected by the people, they are clothed with authority and makes them answerable only to the people,” Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Dr Isaac Bampoe-Addo, said in an exclusive interview in Accra yesterday.
He said the current decentralisation policy was not working and that the only way it could work was by electing the MMDCEs “and it should be done now.”
Dr Bampoe Addo was reacting to President John Dramani Mahama’s directive for all MMDCEs to vacate their posts and hand over to their Coordinating Directors until substantive appointments were made.
He said such a practice where every new government terminated the appointment of existing MMDCEs and appointed new ones was inappropriate.
“Our MMDCEs must have a tenure of office, either every four years or as may be prescribed by law.
“I’m glad President Mahama said he was going to make some constitutional changes and this must be one of them,” Dr Bampoe-Addo said.
To him, the current structure had made some of the MMDCEs very arrogant because they knew they were only accountable to the president and not the people.
The Executive Secretary said the illegal mining challenges facing the country were a clear example of the breakdown of the local government system.
He said if the structures were working, there would be no need for someone from the “centre” or Accra to come to the district to solve a galamsey issue.
“With the MMDCEs being the heads and with the district and municipal police commanders as well as Chiefs working together, why must someone come from Accra to fight the menace,? He asked.
“It is time to push for a relook at our decentralisation policy because some of us think it is not working. Our MMDCEs must be elected on a neutral basis and all government appointees done away with,” he said.
Dr Bampoe-Addo said until MMDCEs were elected, the current practice would continue, stressing that “of course, if I did not appoint you, I will be suspicious working with you.
Assembly members
“We have a non-partisan assembly members so their heads should also be non-partisan,” he said.
The Executive Secretary said once they were accountable to the people, the local people would decide whether to retain them or not at the expiration of their tenure.
