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.

LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION IN GHANA

Do you know much about local Governance and Decentralization in Ghana?

Because DevtPlan Consult is one of the leading consultancy firms in Kumasi, Ghana,we have been certified by the Local Governance Service Secretariat to provide generic and demand driven consultancy services to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in Ghana.

Under the Government of Ghana’s decentralization and local government reform initiative, Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been assigned a wide range of responsibilities, including the provision of basic social service and infrastructure and the coordination of local economic development. The MMDAs thus have critical role in addressing national poverty reduction objectives and, as such, in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.Over the years, resources have been transferred to the local government to finance the construction of basic infrastructure as well as deliver basic social services. Additionally, it is evidently clear that the MMDAs have limited capacity to manage and utilize data for decision making and planning, thus hampering their overall performance and effective development of their plans in particular. To provide additional resources and improve the performance of the MMDAs, Government together with its Development Partners has introduced a Performance Based Grant System (PBGS) called District Development Facility (DDF).

With the District Development Facility initiative, the MMDAs’ access to the discretionary development funds will be related to regular performance assessment under the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT). Central to this initiative, the Government of Ghana and Development Partners that support local governance in Ghana have earmarked part of their development support for implementation of the performance-based funding. MMDAs which meet the minimum conditions and excel during the assessment are rewarded with additional fiscal transfers whilst tailor-made capacity building support is designed for MMDAs which exhibit capacity gaps.

The Sekyere Afram Plains District Assembly therefore contracted Devtplan consult to organize and facilitate a five -day training workshop on selected topics for key personnel and heads of departments in the district.To read more about the Five day training workshop watch out for our next Post.

Want to know more  about the Capacity Building Workshops for MMDAs in Ghana, facilitated by  DevtPlan Consult? Call us on 024 4666458 / 024 4694634/026 6598157 or walk into our office located at Plot Number 8A Block IX, Asafo- Dadiesoaba, opposite the offices of the registrar general’s department, Kumasi. Alternatively, you can drop as a mail at info@devtplanconsult.org

devtplanconsult@yahoo.com ,abdulgafus@yahoo.com,

LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION IN GHANA

Do you know much about local Governance and Decentralization in Ghana?

Because DevtPlan Consult is one of the leading consultancy firms in Kumasi, Ghana,we have been certified by the Local Governance Service Secretariat to provide generic and demand driven consultancy services to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in Ghana.

Under the Government of Ghana’s decentralization and local government reform initiative, Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been assigned a wide range of responsibilities, including the provision of basic social service and infrastructure and the coordination of local economic development. 

The MMDAs thus have critical role in addressing national poverty reduction objectives and, as such, in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

                      

Over the years, resources have been transferred to the local government to finance the construction of basic infrastructure as well as deliver basic social services. Additionally, it is evidently clear that the MMDAs have limited capacity to manage and utilize data for decision making and planning, thus hampering their overall performance and effective development of their plans in particular. To provide additional resources and improve the performance of the MMDAs, Government together with its Development Partners has introduced a Performance Based Grant System (PBGS) called District Development Facility (DDF).

With the District Development Facility initiative, the MMDAs’ access to the discretionary development funds will be related to regular performance assessment under the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT). Central to this initiative, the Government of Ghana and Development Partners that support local governance in Ghana have earmarked part of their development support for implementation of the performance-based funding. MMDAs which meet the minimum conditions and excel during the assessment are rewarded with additional fiscal transfers whilst tailor-made capacity building support is designed for MMDAs which exhibit capacity gaps.

The Sekyere Afram Plains District Assembly therefore contracted Devtplan consult to organize and facilitate a five -day training workshop on selected topics for key personnel and heads of departments in the district.To read more about the Five day training workshop watch out for our next Post.

CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR MMDAs in GHANA

Devt Plan Consult has been playing key roles in facilitating Capacity Building Workshop for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in Ghana.

In April 2011, Devt Plan Consult facilitated a Capacity Building Workshop for Assembly member of the Upper Manya Krobo District assembly. Because we do not want to enjoy the office cake alone,this a brief blog post on the Capacity Building workshop we organized and facilitated at the Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly  in the Eastern Region  to keep you updated and to bring our business close to you.It is our belief that this post would be informative as well as educative.Please do drop us your comment or  send us your feedback , we would just love to hear from you.

Why a Capacity Building workshop?

Among the key challenges confronting Government’s determination and commitment to ensuring efficient local government administration has been “how to sustainably develop the human resource capacity and competence of the technocrats, the legislators (i.e. Assemblymen and women) sub-district officials and civil society in all the metropolitan, municipal and district Assemblies throughout the country on a coherent and systematic manner to enhance their delivery capabilities for improved productivity.”

In December 2010, elections of assembly members were held in the country to satisfy the requirement of constituting a new legislative arm of MMDAs upon the expiry of the term of office of the existing assembly. There was therefore the need to build the capacity of these new assembly members after they have been duly sworn into office to enable them effectively perform their functions.    Consequently the Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly  in the Eastern region  applied part of its capacity building grant from the district development facility to train members of the newly inaugurated assembly to enable them effectively perform their functions.

 DevtPlan consut,being  one of the leading consulting firms in Ghana was contracted by the district assembly to organize and facilitate a two-day orientation workshop for the assembly members.

WHAT WAS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE WORKSHOP?

The overall workshop objective was to educate the newly elected and appointed Assembly Members on the work of the Assembly and also equip them with the requisite knowledge and skill for them to effectively perform their duties.

HOW WAS THE WORKSHOP ORGANIZED?

In order to ensure effective transfer of practical knowledge and to build participants’ understanding and application of skills acquired, the facilitators Mr. Abdul Ghaffar Adam and Mr Percy Anaab Bukari all of DevtPlan Consult made little use of the traditional lecturing approach. Rather, they made extensive use of:

• ·      Presentations 
•         Experience Sharing 
•     Discussion 
•          Synergies 

CONTENT OF THE WORKSHOP

Sessions	Session Objective	Session Content
Ghana’s Local Governance System	·         To understand the concept and tenets of Ghana’s Local governance system.	Objectives of Ghana’s decentralization, Elements of the decentralization policy, Key legislations on decentralization.
The Assembly as a system	·         To understand how the assembly works as a system ·         To identify critical issues hindering the smooth functioning of the assembly as a system. ·         Discover practical techniques and approaches by which the assembly can work effectively as a system	The Assembly system,  components and characteristics of the assembly as a system, Critical issues affecting its functioning, techniques and approaches through which the Assembly system can function effectively
Roles and responsibilities of Key actors of the Assembly	·         To  understand and appreciate the roles and responsibilities of key actors of the assembly	Key actors of the Assembly, Roles and Responsibilities of key actors.
Assembly  committee system	·         The various committees of the Assemblies. ·          The functions of the various committees under the Assembly. ·         Understand the importance of the committee system and how it works at the assembly.	Committees at the assembly, how they are formed, types of committees, functions of the committees
Meeting procedures at the assembly	·         Understand and appreciate the procedures guiding meetings at the assembly	Types of meetings at the assembly, procedures in conducting assembly meetings. Some bad meeting practices during assembly meetings.
Understanding the model standing orders	·         Be familiar with some important provisions in the Model Standing Orders for the Assemblies ·         Know how the Model Standing Orders guide Assembly deliberations.	The session discusses the Model Standing Orders, Some important aspects of it and how it is used to govern deliberations at Assembly meetings
The Public Procurement Law and process	·         To sensitize participants on the essentials of the procurement law	·         Essentials of the procurement law, Procurement planning, Tendering process

 

Let Us hear from you

Where you part of the training? What did you take home? Drop us your comment below. Or perhaps you want to know more about DevtPlan Consult ,Why don’t you give as a call on 024 4666458 / 024 4694634/026 6598157 or walk into our office located at Plot Number 8A Block IX, Asafo- Dadiesoaba, opposite the offices of the registrar general’s department, Kumasi. Alternatively, you can drop as a mail at info@devtplanconsult.org

devtplanconsult@yahoo.com

abdulgafus@yahoo.com,

Thank You.