A 2021 Dennislaw Ghana Report has revealed that 155 out of the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana are operating without legitimate and valid bylaws.
This translates to 59 % of the Assemblies operating without the incorporation of local rules, which is in violation of the Local Governance Act.
Dr Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of Local Government Service, said that was unacceptable and ordered the various Assemblies to make reference to the appropriate Local Governance Act for validity of the bylaws.
Making reference to the Report at the Sixth Annual General Conference of the Association of District Co-ordinating Directors in Kumasi, he said 26 out of 43 MMDAs in the Ashanti Region had no bylaws governing their operations.
Eight of the 12 MMDAs in Bono Region had no valid bylaws, whereas three out of the six Assemblies in Ahafo Region operated without these governing rules.
The three-day Conference was on the theme: “Digitisation: A Critical Tool for Transforming MMDAs”.
The Association, comprising all the metropolitan, municipal and district coordinating directors (MMDCDs) of the assemblies in Ghana met to review and evaluate past performances and forge stronger and workable solutions to emerging problems at their workplaces.
Dr Arthur called on political and administrative heads to commit to improving holistic working relations to improve outcomes.
MMDCDs must learn and know their bosses, know when to approach them on certain issues and what to discuss at what time, he said.
“A good knowledge of our bosses will ensure a smooth and hitch-free relationship for which we would all be proud of, to collectively execute the development agenda of the assemblies.”
He reminded them to be worthy ambassadors of the service by displaying the highest levels of professional standards with the vision of a world class decentralised and client-oriented service in mind.
The Local Government Service would remain resolute in assisting MMDAs to mobilise the needed resources to ensure the implementation of the digitalisation initiative, he said.
Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, said digitising the operations of the Assemblies would ensure quality and timely service delivery to the public.
”Lack of transparency, accountability and automation of the processes and procedures, which were the bane of the MMDAs, would be addressed through digitisation”.
Mr Osei-Mensah urged the MMDAs to budget for and invest in digitising their processes to ensure improvement in productivity, service delivery and reduce inefficiencies and the cost of operations.
