GERMAN’S PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION VISITS GHANA

The German Government has deployed a five member parliamentary delegation to Ghana to study our decentralization concept which is now described as one of the best and most efficient in Africa and the world at large.

The delegation which held a roundtable discussion with one of the nation’s best governance think-thanks, Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Tamale office, to learn more about the country’s decentralization system, is expected to visit other African countries.

Led by the Charge d’ affairs and Deputy Ambassador at German Embassy in Ghana, Mr. Hans Christian Winkler, the delegation was at the Centre to interact with the staff on the framework and dynamics in the implementation of the decentralization and local governance in Ghana.

The team was particularly impressed about how most of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies are decentralized in almost all the regional and district capitals for the sake of ensuring grassroots participation, accountability, transparency and democracy.

Ghana’s decentralization concept has attracted a lot of nations across the globe or the African continent to come and study the system for replication in their own back-yard.

For instance, countries like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya all came to learn from Ghana’s decentralization system and had given testimonies to the effect that, the system is a model in Africa because it allows full grassroots participation by offering opportunity to the people to get involve in the administration from the point of planning, implementation, monitoring and delivery of services to improve the living conditions of the masses.

Speaking on the topic “State institutions and decentralized structures in Ghana”, Mr. Paul Osei-Kuffuor, Programmes Manager of CDD-Ghana Tamale Office, gave a comprehensive account of local government in Ghana where he traced the history of local governance from the colonial period involving the British system of indirect rule to the current decentralized framework.

He asserted that successive governments have trended towards centralization rather than decentralization in pre-colonial and post colonial era until the launch of the most comprehensive effort at decentralization in 1988 with the passage of the PNDC Law 207 which was subsequently consolidated in the 1992 Constitution following Ghana’s transition into multiparty democracy.

Mr. Osei-Kuffuor stated that decentralization was largely motivated by the need to entrench local democracy in Ghana and achieve equilibrium in national development to countering the centralized-bureaucratic nature of the policy and decision-making process and the management and control of resources in the country.

Whilst commending government for passing the New Decentralization Policy and Action Plan which presently provides the path for reforms in local governance, he advocated for a concerted effort from all stakeholders including the active participation of Civil Society Organizations in monitoring and demanding the full implementation of the policy objectives and measures.

Mr. Paul Osei-Kuffuor proposed for the popular election of District Chief Executives, the payment of remuneration to Assembly members, greater transparency in the award of contracts in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and clear guidelines and regulations in the appointment and removal of the 30 percent members of the assembly to enhance popular participation, accountability and openness, and deepen Ghana’s decentralization programme.

In contributing to the discussion, staff of CDD-Ghana and the delegation collectively demanded for concrete interventions from state and non-state actors towards resolving apathy, which characterized the recent Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly elections.

Ms. Susanne Giese and Peter Schussler from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Accra and some staff of the German Embassy participated in the discussions.