69 percent of Ghanaians want MMDCEs elected<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\nThe report, \u201cAssessing the Effectiveness of District Assemblies in Ghana\u2019s Democracy,\u201d also found that over 60 percent of the respondents think the current district assembly system is partisan,\u201d a situation they believe is\u00a0contrary to the provisions of the constitution.<\/p>\n
The survey which was carried out in September 2014 covered 72 districts with 2,910 respondents.<\/p>\n
Other\u00a0 submissions\u00a0 called\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 election\u00a0 of\u00a0 MMDCEs\u00a0 by\u00a0 universal\u00a0 adult\u00a0 suffrage.<\/p>\n
These were captured in the final report of the Constitutional Review Commission which said:<\/p>\n
a.\u00a0 Article\u00a0 243(1)\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 1992\u00a0 Constitution\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 Republic\u00a0 of\u00a0 Ghana. “It\u00a0 is\u00a0 important\u00a0 that\u00a0 the \u00a0districts,\u00a0 which\u00a0 are\u00a0 responsible\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 development\u00a0 of\u00a0 all\u00a0 our communities,\u00a0 be\u00a0 headed\u00a0 by\u00a0 persons\u00a0 who\u00a0 are\u00a0 legitimate\u00a0 and\u00a0 trusted\u00a0 by\u00a0 the\u00a0 people\u00a0 in those\u00a0 communities.\u00a0 This\u00a0 can\u00a0 only\u00a0 be\u00a0 achieved\u00a0 if\u00a0 the\u00a0 Constitution\u00a0 allows\u00a0 the\u00a0 popular election of\u00a0 MMDCEs.<\/p>\n
b.\u00a0 An elected MMDCE will\u00a0 be\u00a0 more\u00a0 responsive\u00a0 and\u00a0 accountable\u00a0 to the\u00a0 people.<\/p>\n
c.\u00a0 Popular\u00a0 election\u00a0 of\u00a0 MMDCEs\u00a0 would\u00a0 make\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 total\u00a0 democratization\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 local government system.<\/p>\n
d.\u00a0 The\u00a0 functions\u00a0 of\u00a0 an\u00a0 MMDCE\u00a0 as\u00a0 enshrined\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 Constitution\u00a0 make\u00a0 the\u00a0 position critical\u00a0 to\u00a0 local\u00a0 development.\u00a0 This\u00a0 means\u00a0 that\u00a0 the\u00a0 selection\u00a0 of\u00a0 a\u00a0 person\u00a0 to\u00a0 fill\u00a0 such\u00a0 a position\u00a0 should\u00a0 not\u00a0 be\u00a0 left\u00a0 to\u00a0 an\u00a0 electoral\u00a0 college.\u00a0 Although\u00a0 unelected\u00a0 by\u00a0 universal adult\u00a0 suffrage,\u00a0 the\u00a0 MMDCE\u00a0 performs\u00a0 functions,\u00a0 such\u00a0 as\u00a0 presiding\u00a0 at\u00a0 meetings\u00a0 of\u00a0 the Executive\u00a0 Committee\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 MMDA,\u00a0 managing\u00a0 the\u00a0 day-to-day\u00a0 performance\u00a0 of\u00a0 the executive\u00a0 and\u00a0 administrative\u00a0 functions\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 MMDA,\u00a0 and\u00a0 acting\u00a0 as\u00a0 the\u00a0 chief representative\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 central\u00a0 government\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 district.\u00a0Additionally,\u00a0 the\u00a0 MMDCE\u00a0 is the\u00a0 Chairman\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 District\u00a0 Security\u00a0 Committee,\u00a0 which\u00a0 makes\u00a0 him\u00a0 responsible\u00a0 to\u00a0 the National\u00a0 Security\u00a0 Coordinator.\u00a0 Only\u00a0 an\u00a0 elected\u00a0 official\u00a0 should\u00a0 perform\u00a0 all\u00a0 of\u00a0 these functions.<\/span><\/p>\ne.\u00a0 Elections\u00a0 will\u00a0 create\u00a0 the\u00a0 platform\u00a0 for\u00a0 competent\u00a0 persons\u00a0 to\u00a0 stand\u00a0 for\u00a0 elections\u00a0 as MMDCE.<\/p>\n
f. An\u00a0 elected\u00a0 MMDCE\u00a0 would\u00a0 have\u00a0 the\u00a0 confidence\u00a0 and\u00a0 security\u00a0 of\u00a0 tenure\u00a0 necessary\u00a0 to insist\u00a0 on\u00a0 long-term\u00a0 local\u00a0 development\u00a0 when\u00a0 this\u00a0 is\u00a0 sought\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 sacrificed\u00a0 by\u00a0 the centre\u00a0 for\u00a0 short-term and\u00a0 parochial\u00a0 interests.<\/p>\n
g.\u00a0 Popular\u00a0 elections\u00a0 of\u00a0 MMDCEs\u00a0 would\u00a0 reduce\u00a0 the\u00a0 incidents\u00a0 of\u00a0 having\u00a0 very\u00a0 unpopular candidates\u00a0 selected\u00a0 as\u00a0 MMDCEs\u00a0 by\u00a0 the\u00a0 assemblies\u00a0 and\u00a0 remove,\u00a0 or\u00a0 at\u00a0 least,\u00a0 minimise the alleged corruption that accompanies the approval of nominees by assemblies.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Farida Shaibu\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A local government expert, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, has downplayed calls for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCE) to be elected saying it will further deepen disunity at the grassroots. [contextly_sidebar id=”cq4dZK6jmSmm8NvtFrPtRahy9XRv9oZR”]Speaking at the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) forum on assessing the effectiveness of the district assembly concept, the former local government and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":144900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-144897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-general","tag-palaver-newspaper"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/144900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}