LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN GHANA

According to wikipedia.org,Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than the state.This term,local governance is used to differentiate it from offices at the nation-state level,which are referred to as the central government,national government or federal government (where appropriate)

 The introduction of the Local Governance Act in Ghana,has deepen democracy and given voices to the voiceless because; it allows decision to be made on local matters.This would improve community participation in decision making and enable various communities in Ghana to accept policies implemented by the Central Government.

After Ghana gained independence on the 6th of March,1957, successive governments have looked to a vibrant local government system to aid the country’s development. Attempts at decentralization were introduced, for instance, in 1983 under Rawlings’ military rule.Ghana’s current programme of decentralisation was initiated in 1988. The process of decentralisation continued and was endorsed by Ghana’s first multiparty government that came into power in 1992. 

The legal basis of Local government is in the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana,which provides that a District Assembly is the highest political authority in the district, and that the District Assembly has deliberative, legislative and executive powers. The Constitution prescribes that Ghana shall have a system of local government and administration which shall, as far as practicable, be decentralised. The composition, powers and duties of the different types of District Assemblies are prescribed in the Local Government Act of 1993.

In Africa, Ghana is not the only country practising the Local Governance system.

Local government traditionally enjoyed limited power in Egypt's highly centralised state. Under the central government were twenty-six governorates (sing., muhafazah; pl., muhafazat). These were subdivided into districts (sing., markaz; pl., marakaz) and villages (sing., qaryah; pl., qura) or towns. At each level, there was a governing structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers, and mayors, respectively.
Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, appointed subordinate executive officers. The coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors' executive organs to the district police station and the village headman (sing., umdah; pl., umadah).
This practise is not new in Ghana, it is the practise in most democratic countries. In Canada for instance, people elect their city Mayor (Mayors are equivalent to DCEs). In the United States even the County police sherrif is elected by the people 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
I, strongly recommend the local Governance system in Ghana,as it gives more power to the local people to contribute to the growth and development of the nation.It  is also a great avenue to nurture young politicians to take up the mantle of leadership.Most importantly, the people that matter most are not left out in implementing policies that would go a long way to improve the economy.
As Democracy is said to be Government of the People,By the People and For the People.