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Ghanaian Local Governance & Decentralisation Delegation Visit Brent

By Kwaku
Diaspora (UK & Ireland) Ghanaian Local Governance  Decentralisation Delegation Visit Brent
MAR 30, 2016 LISTEN

Last week a four-person delegation of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation Secretariat at the Office Of the President in Ghana visited a number of councils in and out of London.

They were here to find out best practices in United Kingdom's Decentralisation and Local Governance Sector, especially in the areas of administrative processes, political and fiscal operations, as well as involvement of citizens in decision-making processes in the operations of local councils.

Brent-based voluntary organisation BTWSC, run by Ghanaian-born barrister Awula Serwah, facilitated the delegation’s meeting with Brent Council.

The delegation, consisting of Peter Missounou (National Commission on Civic Education), Kwesi Owusu (Controller and Accountant-General’s Department), Victor Kuvodu (Public Services Commission), and Rebecca Ekpe (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation), had a brief meeting with leader of Council Cllr Muhammed Butt, an audience with the Mayor Cllr Lesley Jones MBE, and heard presentations by chief executive Carolyn Downs and Scrutiny Committee chair Cllr Matt Kelcher.

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Downs’ ‘Developing A 2020 Vision For Brent’ presentation explained the rationale for prioritising funds and services in light of changing demographics and dwindling financial support from central government. Indeed, by 2021 Councils will have to generate all their income through taxes on local businesses and citizens.

Kelcher explained the work of the Scrutiny Committee, which includes the process of call in, where the Committee can independently review decisions made by the Council. The delegation was fascinated by the fact that a youthful early thirty-something man had such a responsible position. They were surprised when informed that one of the Councillors had been elected aged 18.

“I was delighted to meet with colleagues from Ghana and to share ideas,” added Downs after the meeting.

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The purpose of the visit said Missounou was “to look at how the various local councils perform and how effective they are on the ground in delivering their services.

“How they generate income and how they use those incomes to better the lot of people. How politically neutral they are at the local level.

“We’ve looked at how they are accountable to the people, especially with the Scrutiny Committee, which is chaired by a very young man looking at accountability both at the decision level at the Council and the decision level of the executive.”

Added Ekpe: “We’re here to learn best praticise about local government and how we can bring local governance to the grassroots and how we can get people’s participation and to hold the government more accountable.

“We’ve learnt some best practices - we’ve heard how independent the Councilors and other local government officials are of central government – that’s a problem we have. There’s a lot of bureaucracy because we have the central government infiltrating into local government issues.”

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