A report released by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) has revealed that over 69 percent of Ghanaians want Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) elected.
The report, “Assessing the Effectiveness of District Assemblies in Ghana’s Democracy,” also found that over 60 percent of the respondents think the current district assembly system is partisan,” a situation they believe is contrary to the provisions of the constitution. Presenting highlights of the report, the Deputy Director in charge of research at the NCCE, Patience Sally Kumah stated that even though over 90 percent of those surveyed were aware that the MMDCEs are appointed by the President of Ghana, most of them did not know the actual duties of the assembly’s structures.
The survey which was carried out in September 2014 covered 72 districts with 2,910 respondents.
On his part, the Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda stated that government is working to improve the sub structures of the assembly system, since most of these structures were reported to be poorly functioning. He added, this will require more education and adequate financing for the unit committees to properly perform their roles.
The Minister described the ongoing debate on the election or appointment of the MMDCEs as a healthy one. He was also optimistic that the issues will be settled when the work of the Constitution Implementation Committee is finally over.
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