Botwe — Government should reexamine MMDCE elections
The administration has expressed a desire to reconsider the unfinished agenda for legal reforms to facilitate the election of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), according to the Minister of Local Administration, Decentralization, and Rural Development (MLGDRD), Dan Botwe .
According to him, the political decentralization reform that included the proposed amendment of Articles 243 and 55(3) of the 1992 Constitution, which was shelved in 2019 due to a lack of understanding and agreement among stakeholders, would aid in decentralizing the country’s governance structure so that, upon repeal, the government would be more accessible to its citizens. Botwe
Mr. Botwe made the claim last Saturday at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS)’s sixth graduation ceremony in Ogbojo, Accra. Botwe
Other changes
The requirements for digitalizing property taxation are among the ongoing reforms in decentralization, according to Mr. Botwe, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region. He claimed that the success of Ghana’s decentralization program depended on the skill sets of local government employees and functionaries.
The Institute has been asked to set up platforms for a series of breakfast meetings with various stakeholders to understand their positions on these significant constitutional reforms to deepen local democracy and inclusive governance and further aggregate these positions for the President’s consideration. “It is the intention of the Ministry to revisit the unfinished agenda towards legal reforms to facilitate the election of MMDCEs.
Infrastructure
Regarding infrastructure, he stated that the Ghanaian government, working through the district assemblies common fund (DACF), was committed to coming up with creative solutions to the ILGS’s infrastructure shortfall in order to keep it current and competitive.
He mentioned that the Institute’s physical infrastructure was being expanded at both its campuses in Accra and Tamale, with the Accra campus’ first phase culminating in the completion of a 200-seater multipurpose conference room facility and a 160-bed executive hostel, while work on the Tamale campus’ 80-bed executive hostel, a 400-seat executive hostel, and the renovation of existing facilities was still ongoing.
Commendation
He congratulated the ILGS leadership for launching cutting-edge graduate programs over the years to increase the capacity of local government practitioners.
“The transformation of the Institute is remarkable,” Mr. Botwe said, “and I want to believe that government will take your request for a Presidential Charter into account when made through the proper channel and at the appropriate time.”
In his remarks to the audience, Prof. Nicholas Awortwi, Director of the ILGS, discussed the achievements made over the years, such as the introduction of new academic programs for both master’s and bachelor’s degrees, support for policy and program-informed reforms, infrastructure renovation, and financial restraint.
Graduation
Last Saturday in Ogbojo in Accra, 111 students received diplomas from the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS).
The group of students, who included 83 men and 28 women, received master’s degrees in local government financial management, local economic development, environmental science, policy, and management, and local government administration and organization.
The topic of the sixth graduation, which simultaneously celebrated the institute’s 20th birthday, was “Building back better through capacity development for effective decentralization, local governance, digitization, and economic transformation.”
Table of Contents
About Author
