Government is prepared to addressing all perceived demerits inherent in opening up the democratic space at the local governance level.
The disadvantages, according to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development have been identified and some strategic measures outlined under the roadmap in changing the governance system at the district level.
The measures have been captured under pre-referendum, referendum, post referendum and change management.
A Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Dr. Eric Oduro Osae stated this at a training workshop for selected journalists on the constitutional, regulatory and political processes leading to the December 17 Referendum and District Assembly Elections at Naynyano in the Central Region.
The training was organised by the GJA under the GJA-STAR Ghana Project.
Dr. Osae noted that all consequential amendments and adjustments will be made to existing laws and policies to allay the fears and apprehensions of people who are not for one reason or the other in favour of allowing political parties to sponsor candidates for the Chief Executive positions of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, MMDAs.
He said the December 17, referendum is crucial for multi-party Democratic movement of the country.
Touching on the merits of electing Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives MMDCEs, Dr. Osae said the exercise will fully democratise the local governance system, guarantee security of tenure for MMDCEs, promote responsiveness and accountability and reduce the perceived tension between MMDCEs and Members of Parliament.
He added that electing the Chief Executives will also help break the winner- takes-all syndrome in the Ghanaian politics as other political parties’ candidates rather than the ruling party’s aspirants will also be elected to serve the people locally.
Also, electing the MMDCEs “shall give meaning to popular participation in local governance.” He observed.
He therefore entreated all electorate to endeavour to participate in the referendum.
A Senior Research Fellow and Head of Advocacy and Institutional Relations at the Institute of Democratic Governance, IDEG, Dr. Kwesi Jonah said conducting partisan elections at the local level will ensure inclusiveness and enhance accountability.
He stated that it will be beautiful having a multi-party Regional Coordinating Councils where many political parties’ representatives will discuss the development of their regions and districts.
Dr. Jonah also advocated a ‘Yes’ vote and urged the media to increase education and sharing of information on the referendum and its benefits so as to get more people to understand the issues and vote in favour of the Bill to amend Clause 3 of Article 55 of the 1992 Constitution to allow political parties to sponsore candidates for election to District Assemblies or Local Government Units.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA Affail Monney urged journalists to take advantage of training programmes facilitated by the GJA and other institutions to gain further knowledge on the constitutional, regulatory and political processes and nuances of the local governance reforms to better educate the people.
This he noted will enable them to further contribute to sustaining the media-CSOs campaign for a “YES” vote on December 17.
Mr. Monney entreated all media houses to redouble efforts at getting the electorate to understand the issues relating to the referendum and amendments of provisions in the Constitution to enable them vote appropriately to pave the way for political parties to put forward candidates to participate in the District level elections.
The Programmes Manager, GJA-STAR Ghana Project, Kojo Impraim also emphasized the need for the media and CSOs to continue to work together for the realisation of the aspirations of people at the local level.
He said opening up the democratic space locally is ideal and best practice that Ghana should embrace. In view of this, he urged the media to intensify reportage on the upcoming referendum and related activities before, during and after to ensure that every issue is adequately addressed to boost the nation’s overall governance system.
The GJA in October 2018 launched the “Enhanced Media-Civil Society Organisations Partnerships for lnclusive Local Governance Project” in support of the proposed multi-party local government reforms. The project aimed at building synergies between the media and Civil Society Organisations and government on the other hand to chart a new paradigm for the nation’s decentralization drive.
Story by Dominic Hlordzi
