Government optimistic of benefits of electing MMDCEs - Afriyie-Ankrah

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah

The deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, says the government is optimistic about the benefits of the decision to have Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) elected.

Enumerating the benefits, he said the election would give the MMDCEs security of tenure which would enable them to work without fear of being removed by the president.

In that regard, the MMDCEs, he said, would then be fully accountable to the people of their areas, and satisfactorily fulfill development promises made to the locals, while the intense lobbying for appointments would also be avoided.

In addition, he said the new system, when operational, would help to remove the urge for DCEs to contest parliamentary seats in their areas, a situation which had often created conflicts between DCEs and MPs.

The election of MMDCEs was one of the measures approved by the president in the government's White Paper on the Constitution Review Commission's Report.

It means the constitutional provision requiring that MMDCEs be appointed by the president would have to be amended to give the mandate to the locals to elect their MMDCEs.

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah, giving details of the proposed system at the inauguration of the newly established municipal and district assemblies at Anfoega in the Volta Region, explained that the president would nominate five people to be interviewed by the Public Services Commission. Out of the five, he said, three candidates would be shortlisted for election by registered voters in the districts.

He was of the view that the new system would assist in advancing the decentralisation system, adding that a number of support initiatives had been undertaken to aid development growth of the assemblies.

As part of the measures, he said, the government had designed a programme to galvanise district assemblies to play the lead role in creating district-level employment opportunities, raising revenues for the assemblies to undertake development projects and ensuring that the district contributed meaningfully to the consolidation of the country's middle level status.

In addition, he said all the laws on local government were being consolidated into one legislation so as to ensure harmonisation of the local government laws and provide an easy access to the legislation.

That move, he explained, was part of a strategy for enhancing the work of the district assemblies.

Additionally, he noted that “a district resourcing programme is being worked out within the framework of the recently ¬launched public-private partnership strategy to provide each district assembly with an office block, an assembly hall, bungalows for the district chief executive and the district co-ordinating director, juniors staff quarters for some of the staff and other operational, logistics and equipment support.”

As part of the inauguration, the deputy minister presented two vehicles to the North Dayi District Assembly towards improving the capacity of the assembly to deliver.