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Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development
Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development

We’ll sanitise local govt system - Hajia Alima Mahama

The government is poised to sanitise the local government system by ensuring that there is effective institutional coordination and harmonisation, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, has said.

She explained that there would be effective coordination of funding and development partner support, as well as deepening of the platform for policy coordination and harmonisation.

Hajia Mahama, who was opening a five-day orientation programme for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) last Monday, said: “The ministry has also initiated processes leading to the rationalisation of funding and support to decentralisation in Ghana through a comprehensive review of the existing arrangements.”

She said the ministry was also collaborating with other key ministries such as the Ministry for Inner Cities and Zongo Development, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and the Regional Development and Integration Ministry to ensure the realisation of government’s vision for the country.

Reporting templates

The orientation programme, which is being attended by 200 MMDCEs from all over the country, is designed to inculcate in them the requisite knowledge, skills and the right to lead decentralised governance effectively.

It seeks to acquaint MMDCEs on the demands of the district chief executive and to equip them with the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for effective transformational leadership at the local level.

Hajia Mahama said to ensure effective delivery and an improved performance monitoring system rolled out by the government, all MMDCEs would receive reporting templates and formats to guide them in submitting periodic reports on their activities as per a performance contract to be signed for continuous monitoring.

Policy of Decentralisation

Hajia Mahama said the ministry had initiated a process of reviewing the current National Policy of Decentralisation to accommodate the new reforms and policy directions.

She explained that the ministry had constituted a team to come up with proposals in consultation with key stakeholders in the local government sector to review and reconcile all enabling legal framework hampering the true implementation of effective decentralisation in Ghana.

She said notable among the laws to be reviewed was the recently passed Local Government Act 936 of 2016, the Local Government Financial Memoranda of 2004, and the Model Standing Orders for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

“The ministry has also constituted a team to work towards reviewing all the laws and policies that inhibit the election of MMDCEs.

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