CALL FOR REVIEW OF LOCAL GOVT SYSTEM (PAGE 14, OCT 24)

THE acting Head of the Local Government Service (LGS), Mr Akwasi Opong-Ofosu, has called for a review of the local government system.
He said the review was necessary to ensure that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) functioned as self-governing entities to reflect a more devolved local government system.
Mr Opong-Ofosu made the call during a public lecture in Tamale to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS).
It was aimed at sensitising civil society organistations to their social responsibilities to participate in and support development programmes at the local level.
It was on the theme: “Capacity building of local authorities for effective development planning, implementation and management”.
The LGS Head observed that the Local Government Act “was relatively silent on the specific functions assigned to districts, which has created confusion regarding responsibilities between different levels of government, particularly the central and local government”.
He pointed out that while in some jurisdictions, the districts were given functions, the same functions were also assigned to central government institutions, such as the Ghana Education Service (GES) or the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Mr Opong-Ofosu noted that transfers to the districts were very fragmented.
“Ghana is, however, introducing a Performance-Based Grant System (PBGS) to merge some of the transfers over time and that several development partners have indicated their commitments to it,” he further explained.
He stressed the need for training institutes like the ILGS to be supported to undertake capacity development programmes for MMDAs.
According to Mr Opong-Ofosu, local governments the world over had now emerged as significant and worthy partners in the development process.
“Being the level of government closest to the people, local government is considered better placed to respond to the political and economic imperatives of the 21st century,” he intimated.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, in a speech read on his behalf, expressed the hope that the public lecture would contribute meaningfully to the general objectives of influencing policy for the speedy development of Northern Ghana.
According to him, the Regional Co-ordinating Council had supported the ILGS to undertake a number of training programmes that included gender mainstreaming and district planning processes, policy forum on the operationalisation of sub-district structures etc.