About 84% of Ghanaians perceive Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) as corrupt, an Afro Barometer report has revealed.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Gga9VLGnsR28ceORI1afIyH8Bbm6M2sp”]The report released by the Center for the Democratic Development (CDD) also disclosed that 63% of Ghanaians also believe that MMDCE’s are not effective in their work.
The survey which sampled 2,400 Ghanaian adults was undertaken between May 24 and June 10, 2014.
The issue about electing MMDCEs took a center stage in Ghana’s politics in 2014.
While some believe election of MMDCEs will make them more accountable to the people rather than the government in power, others think otherwise.
Meanwhile, about 63% of those sampled think the performance of MMDCEs over the years were not good enough.
Key findings
- MMDAs and local councillors appear to have failed to effectively operationalize the idea of giving voice to electorates, as more than seven of 10 Ghanaians say that their elected local councillors “never” or only “sometimes” listen to what ordinary people have to say (according to 71% of respondents) and that MMDAs largely do not inform constituents about their work programs (76%) and annual budgets (78%).
- These negative assessments have been increasing: The perception of non-listening local councillors rose by 16 percentage points between 2005 and 2014, and the perceptions of councillors not making work programs and budget information known to citizens went up by 29 and 23 percentage points, respectively.
- In addition to the failure of the system to give electorates a voice in local governance, four of five Ghanaians consider “some,” “most,” or “all” MMDA chief executives and local councillors to be corrupt (affirmed by 84% and 83% of respondents, respectively), and 62% say they trust MMDAs “just a little” or “not at all.”
- Moreover, seven of 10 Ghanaians say MMDAs have failed in delivering on maintenance of local roads and marketplaces, and about six of 10 disapprove of the job performance of district chief executives and local government councilors.
Click here to read full report
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana