The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has declared the current state of local governance in Ghana incapable of driving development in their respective areas due to systemic challenges. He said decentralization, to him, had been undermined by inadequate funding, political interference, and lack of proper structures that will trigger real growth at the grassroots level.
Speaking at a public forum in Accra, Asiedu Nketia said that decentralization, as promised, had not worked to bring governance closer to the people. Asiedu Nketia lamented how local government authorities, which are supposed to lead the way in development in their respective areas, are often hamstrung by inadequate finances and red tape, leaving them unable to carry out important projects.
Because local governments were established to ensure that decisions were brought closer to the people, but through lack of autonomy and proper funding, they have been reduced to mere administrative bodies without the power to implement meaningful change," Asiedu Nketia said.
He further berated the central government for its continued commandeering of resource allocation, something that he said throttles the ability of local authorities to initiate and address the peculiar needs of their communities. According to him, this situation has retarded the progress that could have been made, as well as left many localities bereft of basic infrastructure and services.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia's comments come amidst growing concerns over the effectiveness of local governance in Ghana, with many rural and urban communities still having to contend with poor roads, inadequate healthcare, and indeed limited access to education.
Making this urgent call for reform, Asiedu Nketia pleaded with the government to empower local governments through increased funding, reduced political interferences, and measures geared toward ensuring a framework that would enable them to make decisions affecting the lives of their people. He emphasized that true development could not be attained without giving adequate resources to local governments to enable them to take the lead in development matters within their regions.
The statement of the NDC official is evidence of the debate going on in Ghana over the direction the country's decentralization should take and what role local governments must play in the process of attaining sustainable development.
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