<<Print>>

Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, the Brong- Ahafo Regional Minister, has said the application of a "vote of no confidence" clause by Assembly Members against either a Metropolitan, Municipal, District Chief executive or other political appointees who did not have the chance of explaining themselves was an omission in the district assembly concept. He said it was unfair and unjustified to conclude a process of impeachment against someone at whatever political level without due recourse of hearing the side of the person before any panel of competent arbitration. Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo was addressing a one-day workshop in Sunyani to review two decades of decentralization and the district assembly system in Ghana. He expressed the hope that the participants would consider that in their deliberations and discussions so as to bring stability in the decentralization process at the local level. The workshop, attended by 85 participants from Assemblies in Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and West regions was organised jointly by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and National Association of Local Government Authorities of Ghana (NALAG). It was co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Sustainable Rural Livelihood Project (SRLP) and Africa 2000 Network (A2N). A similar workshop would be held in Koforidua on January 28 for another batch of 85 representatives of assemblies in Greater Accra, Western, Central, Eastern and Volta regions. Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said the absence of a provision in the standing orders of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies for their Chief Executives to explain or defend themselves had given room for some assembly members to apply that vote of no confidence principle with impunity. He said it was sometimes applied without reasonable justification and that a section of assembly members could even take advantage of that to settle personal scores with their Chief Executives on grounds of political differences. Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) had been established as part of the local government concept to monitor and evaluate the activities of MMDAs, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and NGOs at the regional level. He said the RCCs' functions include attending to high profile dignitaries, personalities and public officials who visited the region on official duties and tours and explained that the situation culminated in a huge financial responsibility. The Regional Minister expressed regret that in spite of this great financial burden on the RCCs only a small fraction of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) is allocated to them and such inadequate financial provision was a constraint. He appealed to the workshop to look at the role of the RCCs in the decentralization concept and come with suggestions that would strengthen them both financially and logistically for better and efficient service delivery. Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said partisan colourization was crippling the realization of the objectives of the decentralization concept and advised assembly members to look at issues dispassionately since politicization of their activities contrasted the wisdom of the framers of the constitution. The Regional Minister therefore suggested that there should be realignment of roles, responsibilities and duties of the key players in the policy to enrich the policy and prevent any conflict in the roles and duties to achieve its objectives.