Why I will vote ‘NO!’;Referendum on partisan election of MMDCEs
In some months to come, Ghana will hold a referendum, for the first time in many years, to vote on whether or not chief executives of the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies should be elected on partisan basis.
Since the inception of the Fourth Republic, politicians, mostly in opposition, have campaigned on the subject matter, that is, the election of Metropolitan,
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Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs). According to the arguments for that campaign, it would afford constitutents the opportunity to elect freely those they want to represent them within their jurisdiction, a deviation from the norm.
This argument, to some, may be sound because it offers the opportunity for people to go campaigning, with its attendant “brouhaha”.
But having studied the contributions of the MMDCEs in our socio-economic development, I am determined to vote: No! in the upcoming referendum. My position on this matter is not political, but based on a number of factors.
Position
Firstly, I see no major impact of MMDCEs to the development of communities.
Most of the time, I read damning stories about them in the Auditor-General’s report, relating to the misapplication, mismanagement or embezzlement of funds meant for projects to benefit their people at the local level.
Again, funds that come to them are spent on projects according to their political leanings.
That presupposes that no matter what, that attitude will not change even if they are elected in the manner we are proposing.
Secondly, I am considering the cost in running this election.
We use a lot of the taxpayers’ money on elections, in the name of practising democracy; yet we see very little improvements in standards of living to justify that.
Other people might argue that the stability we enjoy is part of the strong democracy we have and that democracy is expensive.
But does that mean that we need to continuously do things that waste money that could have been used to fund a lot more social interventions and other pressing needs, by spending it on elections that get people into power, only to lord it over their constituents?
Thirdly, I trust that we elected our assembly members, who form something like an electoral college, to approve or reject the President’s nominees to the assemblies.
They often pass most of them and that is normal because we all know what happens during elections in Ghana and such a practice will not change no matter what.
Recommendations
I propose that instead of spending money to elect these MMDCEs, we should rather do something more novel.
For instance, we should advertise, stating clearly the qualifications we require for one to be a chief executive of an assembly.
Let us bear in mind that the assemblies handle huge sums of money and, therefore, those who run them must be people with the wherewithal to do so.
Academic qualifications, working experience as a manager, a good sense of judgement (with evidence), knowledge and all other qualities needed for the position should be considered.
There should be an independent and properly constituted body within the Local Government Ministry to vet the applications and pick the best for each assembly.
By our nature and history, I can tell that there will be some level of political favouritism, but if we can avoid that, it will be in our collective interest.
Let us not forget that the Presidents we always elect to run our dear country are never blockheaded and, therefore, those to represent them at the assembly level must have equal or better traits to fit that position.
They must be given clear key performance indicators to abide by, failure of which they will be withdrawn for non-performance.
This is crucial to me because running the assemblies should no longer be ‘political business as usual’, if we truly want to transform the country.
For once, let’s make Ghana a model in local assembly administration for others to follow.
Let us appoint MMDCEs through a fair and transparent process. Let’s open the race up through proper advertisements and I trust that we can find many women coming up to take such responsible positions.
Are we not tired of elections and their cost to us? I am, so my vote is NO, even before the referendum.
It is my fervent hope that my position will not be misconstrued to be opposing our dear President or any other who holds that view on political grounds.
I am only making a suggestion and I pray it’s given a deeper thought. I am a citizen.
Writer’s E-mail:
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