The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) would from October 19 organise regional consultations to solicit views and ideas on the future of decentralisation in Ghana.
The consultations would provide an opportunity for all sections of the population to participate and contribute to the decentralisation review process.
It would also help the government to acknowledge particular concerns and experiences, good practices and priorities that different regions might have, with a view to making decentralization more effective.
Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, the sector Minister, addressing a press conference in Accra to launch the programme, said the exercise was part of a broader effort to create a more efficient decentralized governance system capable of delivering social services to the mass of the people.
He said it sought to enhance ownership of the decentralisation process among citizens and foster wide recognition and validation of the direction in which local governance was being taken. The ideas generated from those consultations would be fed into the national Stakeholders' Conference to be held in the middle of December this year.
The minister said many people had concerns about the degree of effectiveness of the District Assemblies in solving local problems and experts also believed most of those concerns arose because the system of decentralization lacked conceptual clarity.
"Some have argued that our current systems, approaches and structures for decentralization are fluid and unclear and have therefore called for clearer definitions. These suggestions have been made against the backdrop that decentralization can take many forms," he said.
Mr Yieleh Chireh said various recommendations had been made in relation to the need to revisit the design of the local government sub-structures and to review relevant legislation involving local authorities and local level development.
He said in all, there was considerable agreement among experts that the current system of decentralization needed to be reformed, and that what was needed was to build consensus on the kind of reforms that were likely to produce the desired outcome of an efficient and responsive system of local governance.
"We believe expert opinion is extremely important. But more crucial is the opinion of the sovereign people of Ghana about the way forward for decentralization in Ghana," he said, adding that the spirit of the decentralization process as indicated in the Constitution was to afford Ghanaians the opportunity to participate in governance in a democratic manner.
"All of us need to be reminded that this is not a political process for big politicians and experts. It is about us and how we live our lives. It is about how we can get water in our local communities and how we can go about our normal duties without fear of attacks....It is about how to deal with filth, reduce mosquitoes, reduce malaria and secure better health," he stressed.
The schedule for the consultation is as follows: Monday, October 19 - Cape Coast, Central Region; Wednesday, October 21 - Ho, Volta Region; Friday, October 23 - Koforidua, Eastern Region; Monday, October 26 - Accra, Greater Accra Region; Wednesday, October 28 - Sekondi-Takoradi - Western Region; Tuesday November 3 - Wa, Upper West Region; Thursday, November 5 - Bolgatanga, Upper East Region; Saturday, November 7 - Tamale, Northern Region; Tuesday, November 10 - Sunyani, Brong Ahafo Region; and Thursday, November 12 - Kumasi, Ashanti Region.
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