Persist in partisan election of MMDCEs – Dr Mensah to govt

In order to allow political parties to run candidates for municipal and district chief executives MDCEs , Article 243 (1) of the 1992 Constitution must be reviewed. The administration has been tasked with continuing this process. MMDCEs

Such a change would promote inclusive representation, help the nation realize the fundamentals of good government, and speed up the pace of national progress.

After operating under the current system for more than 30 years, Dr. Valentin Kwasi Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CBS Consulting, made the appeal at a webinar hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) on May 25.

“The 1992 Constitution’s Article 243 (1) for the election of municipal and district chief executives should be amended.” MMDCEs

If political parties are not allowed to participate in the election of municipal and district chief executives, he claimed, “we are depriving ourselves of a crucial element for development and controlling corruption.”

In order to improve the local governance system and provide local communities greater power and resources, the administration worked to alter Articles 243(1) for the election of MDCEs and 55(3) to permit multiparty participation in the districts between 2018 and 2019.

The context

However, due to inadequate public awareness and widespread support for the reforms, the nationwide vote that was supposed to take place on December 17, 2019, was shortened.

Since then, both the New Patriotic Party-led administration and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the opposition party, have reiterated their commitments to start anew and pursue local governance reforms. MMDCEs

While the direct and popular election of MDCEs and the legalization of political parties’ participation are on the NPP’s agenda for local governance changes, the opposition NDC suggests holding MDCE elections without the participation of political parties.

Dr. Mensah argued that there was sufficient agreement at the political and citizen levels for MDCEs to be chosen by the general public; the difficulty, then, was the participation of political parties.

He added that while holding elections should be everyone’s first objective, ensuring political involvement was essential to accelerating the nation’s growth.

He continued by saying that the government needed to pursue a rigorous decentralization initiative at the national level by giving the people the power to choose their district assembly leaders.

Economic Repercussions

The CEO was discussing “The Economic Consequences of Ghana’s Cultural Values and Public Policies: A Critical Appraisal of Formal and Informal Institutions”. MMDCEs

Given Ghana’s sluggish rate of progress, he claimed that in order to transform and improve its situation, the nation needs to learn from Singapore and South Korea’s experiences and lessons.

“The experiences of economies that managed to emerge from the same trap may hold the key to understanding the factors contributing to poverty and economic stagnation in low-income countries. The lessons learned from Singapore and South Korea are thus applicable, he said. MMDCEs

To achieve this, he suggested that Ghana Beyond Aid’s essential values be condensed to a maximum of five and brought to Parliament for discussion and assessment in order to grab the public’s attention.

He claimed that because the government had not embraced the Ghana Beyond Aid initiative’s core values, its implementation had deteriorated.

To ensure that the populace are taught the values of the Ghana Beyond Aid movement, he stated, “we need effective public communication.” MMDCEs

He asserted that particular efforts should be made to cut down on the time and resources used for rituals that aren’t productive because productivity and savings are crucial for progress. MMDCEs

In order to encourage savings and investment on the stock exchange and in other financial institutions, he continued, the financial regulatory environment must be strengthened. MMDCEs

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