WE ENDORSE THIS APPEAL (DEC 22, 2010)

ABOUT 22 years ago, Ghana began the process of decentralising power to the grass roots by introducing the district assembly concept via the decentralisation programme.
Since then, the necessary structures on which hinge the concept have been put in place, including the creation of the unit committees and the zonal and area councils.
Perhaps the success of Ghana’s multiparty democracy can be traced to our decentralised system of administration.
Through the system, the people are already aware of the dividends of democratic governance and have since contributed to the conduct of five successful parliamentary and presidential elections.
Similarly, incumbent governments have been removed on two occasions through the ballot box, a feat which has been applauded the world over.
Thankfully, there is another opportunity on December 28, this year, for the people to vote a new breed of assembly members into office. The future of the decentralisation programme will be determined by this set of assembly members.
It is in the light of the upcoming district level elections that the DAILY GRAPHIC endorses the appeal made by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin, to the government to enhance the decentralisation programme to ensure the effective implementation, evaluation and monitoring of various development projects across the country.
The Okyenhene particularly called for priority in the area of education in order to instil a sense of communal ownership, accountability and transparency at all levels of society.
This call must be heeded and given all the needed attention in view of the increased population and government programmes to bring development to the people.
It is a truism that a centralised system of administration has its attendant negative effects, such as bureaucratic tendencies, which do not augur well for any meaningful socio-economic development. This is because bureaucracy breeds delays, red-tapeism, corruption and other anti-social activities which impinge negatively on effective national development.
With the call by the Okyenhene, we need to put in place the necessary infrastructure and resources to equip the various municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies to enable them to adequately face the numerous challenges bedevilling them.
As rightly pointed out by the Okyenhene, through the decentralisation programme the various communities could effectively mobilise resources to complement the government’s efforts at improving basic infrastructure and provide the needed facilities, as well as set up boards, to evaluate and monitor the performance of teachers.
This will create the needed impetus for all to put their shoulders to the wheel, since they will see themselves as part and parcel of the overall decision-making and national development agenda to minimise the lackadaisical tendencies associated with the centralised system of governance.
The Okyenhene’s appeal probably should open the vistas for debate on the election of district chief executives (DCEs), who are the political heads at the district level, so that inputs could be made for consideration by the Constitutional Review Commission if that had not already captured its attention.
Through the election of DCEs, accountability at the grass roots will be greatly enhanced to pave the way for the ownership of the development agenda at the district level.