She said this would help improve service delivery to stakeholders, in particular, to build a better Ghana, adding that they must be able to identify the resources they need to implement their policies.

Hajia Mahama said this at the signing ceremony of the 2018 Performance Contract between the 10 regional ministers and regional coordinating directors in Accra on Friday.

She said the priority areas of the Contract include local revenue generation, education, infrastructural development, social protection, and institutional capacity development.

She said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s commitment to positioning Ghana Beyond Aid was driven by initiatives such as the “One District–One-Factory,” “One Constituency One Million Dollars,” and “Planting for Food and Jobs,” and that they would not see the light without strong local governance institutions to drive them.

“This is mainly because the point of implementation of these projects is at the metropolitan, municipal and district assembly levels, which you supervise, and it is, therefore, timely that the service sets realistic and achievable targets aimed at contributing towards the implementation of these flagship projects,” she said.

She urged the directors to use their experience over the years to guide and support the ministers to succeed and said government was appreciative of the numerous initiatives undertaken to drive administrative decentralisation and ensure effective delivery of quality service and would continue to support their efforts.

Hajia Mahama reminded both parties that it was their collective responsibility to ensure their success, urging the regional minister to support the directors to deliver on targets.

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Source: GNA

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The Legislative Instruments seeing to their creation are yet to mature, thus the proposed districts are not yet to be recognized on government books to receive budgetary allocations by way of seed money.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NJ9TbN68VZsQU8srGzyCwSFflRv4LTcd”]”The fact is that, you can’t even say anything for the new districts. The same parliament will ask: where are the districts? We have not approved any districts. So until the LIs mature, you cannot ask for any money for any district,”  the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama noted to Citi News.

However, Hajia Mahama explained to Citi News that the new districts, when formally recognized, will draw funding from the District Assemblies Common Fund to start their activities.

“We will stake seed money from the District Assembly Fund to start the districts. So we explained to the committee that we cannot budget for districts because they are not yet there. The LI is not yet in place. The formula [for the allocation] will come before Parliament, so we will meet with the economic management committee, and put it in the formula, and the formula will come to parliament for approval.”

The Akufo-Addo government presented the LI for the creation of 38 new districts and municipal assemblies to Parliament in November.

The LI is to mature in 21 sitting days from Thursday, November 16, 2017, when it was laid.

The government is hopeful that the creation of these new districts will deepen Ghana’s democratic processes and boost the decentralization system.

Speaking to journalists after presenting the LI, Hajia Alima Mahama, said: “We’ve decided that we need to deepen our democratic process and decentralization system. There are some districts that have grown. We started district assemblies in 1988, the population of some of the district assemblies have even doubled. And the essence of our local governance system is to ensure that all persons in the district participate in the governance system and feel part of it. So we’ve decided to increase the number of districts, the districts that are big, divide them into other districts,” she added.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The 40.5 million Euros project was commissioned in 2012, and funded by Whence Francais Development (AFD).

It is expected to improve living conditions in urban areas for inhabitants of the four selected cities, thus; Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, Tamale and Ho.

The Project in Ho comprises the construction of a modern abattoir, an engineered landfill site, and reconstruction of the Ho Central Market at a cost of 28million Ghana cedis.

Following her assumption of office as the new Local Government Minister, Hajia Alima went on a familiarization tour of the area to assess at first hand the progress of work in the region.

Consultants of the Project, LAMDA Consult, in giving a progress report, told stakeholders the project is 96% close to completion.

The Minister hinted that, the tour today [Monday, March 20, 2017], would inform the Ministry on ensuring a successful completion of the project and the rolling out of its second phase.

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By: King Nobert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama made the revelation on the Point Blank segment on Eyewitness News on Thursday.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8eive0lFyhvgAGAL7XGD1ZwxOYSLUeZ7″]“The process is ongoing. We have finished the vetting at the regional level so we are now validating them at the national level. Definitely, by the end of this month [March]we would have appointed them,” Hajia Mahama said.

She also noted that government had put in place measures to minimise the agitations that normally accompanied such appointments.

She explained that one of the measures was to open invitation for applications at the district level which preceeded the screening and vetting.

The vetting she said began at the regional level after which recommendations were forwarded to the national capital for the final validation.

On the possible agitations, Hajia Mahama said: “It is a human situation and there are contestations. It is not all the time there is a compromise and people understand each other so definitely, some people may not be happy but with time we will all realise that this is an appointed position and only one person can be appointed.”

The Akufo-Addo administration’s long-term plan for MMDCEs and local government is to have them elected and President Nana Akufo-Addo, during his campaign for office, promised Ghanaians they would be electing their MMDCEs in 2018.

“We are hoping that at the next run of district assembly elections, we would have gone through the of legal amendment processes for MMDCEs to be elected. It will happen under President Nana Akufo-Addo. For now, definitely, we can’t leave the district assemblies vacant so we are working on appointing until such time where district assembly elections will come on.”

In the meantime, MMDCEs are nominated by the President pursuant to Article 243(1) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 20(1) of the Local Government Act 1993, Act 462.

They are also mandated per law to be approved by majority of the members of the assembly.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Hajia Mahama made the remarks when she paid a surprise visit to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to interact with their management and assess at first hand their challenges.

She urged the management to keep up with their good work.

She assured them of her maximum support, adding that; “your concerns are of great importance to government and it would be addressed.”

Mr Sam Ayeh-Datey, the Metropolitan Coordinating Director, briefed the Minister on some general challenges of the AMA such as desilting of storm drains, illegal structures that created congestion, encroachment of lands in Accra, logistics for revenue mobilisation and boundary disputes with other assemblies.

The meeting provided the platform for other management members to provide Departmental briefings.

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Source: GNA

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Hajia Alima Mahama, also MP for Nalerigu-Gambaga, said this when she appeared before the Appointments Committee to be vetted on Monday.

Shortly after she was nominated, the former Deputy Local Government Minister, who also at one-time served as a Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs in the Kufuor administration, signed a letter that revoked the appointment of all MMDCEs.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FQnegTeJorIbwXL9Tdv4zrxmjmgkmq2u”]Portions of the letter she wrote read, “By virtue of Article 243 (3)(b) of the constitution of the republic, H.E the president of the republic has revoked the appointment of all MMDCEs with immediate effect. In this regard, all MMDCEs are directed to hand over their relevant duties to Coordinating Directors for further instruction.”

She was later criticized for signing off such a decision considering that her nomination had not yet been confirmed. Others also said the action was hasty, considering new MMDCEs were yet to be appointed to fill the positions.

Clarifying her action to the Appointments Committee, she said she was asked by the president to carry out that task in accordance with the constitution and the provisions in the transitional act.

“In the constitution, Article 58(1) says the executive authority of Ghana shall be vested in the president and shall be exercised in accordance with the provision of this constitution. Then it goes to Article 58(3), which states that subject to the provisions of this constitution, the functions conferred on the president by clause 1of this article maybe exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him. This is what the constitution says… And once again as you have alluded, the transitional provisions 14(1) say on the assumption of office, those persons specified in the schedule will cease to hold office and it goes further to say in 14(2) that the functions of office of a person who ceases to hold office under sub section 1 shall be performed by a person so appointed by the president for the period specified in writing by the president,” she stated.

She added that, “In the letter dated 9 January, the president wrote to me, Alima Mahama, directing that I be his representative to take charge of affairs of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Following on that, he directed that by virtue of the powers vested in him in article 243(3), he was revoking appointments of DCEs and, therefore, I should go ahead and send out that letter – which I did.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He described government’s approach to purging the local government of its heads as akin to a “coup mentality.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”DwfCPqbn6uMt7aHw5pzrYsck0hDr6Imf”]Speaking on Eyewitness News, he reiterated the arguments that, keeping the MMDCEs in the short-term ensures there is stability until there’s a substantive Local Government minister.

“I believe this decision was very harsh. It was taken in a very rash manner,” Mr. Ofosu Ampofo stressed.

The Local Government minister nominee, Hajia Alima Mahama, indicated that the termination of the appointments of all MMDCEs was to ensure a uniformity of vision at the national and sub-national level.

Hajia Mahama also argued that the termination of appointment was to ensure the Assemblies don’t take key decisions that were not in tandem with the policy outlook of government.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, however, said the erstwhile John Evans Attah Mills administration in 2009, maintained MMDCEs in the short-term whilst ensuring that they did not compromise the government’s vision.

He reminded that “in President Mills’ time, some order was given that you are at post but you are not supposed to take any decision of maybe awarding contracts or payments, so the parameters were defined.”

Danger in electing MMDCEs

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo also warned about the possible downsides of electing MMDCEs as promised by the new government.

“Already, we are living in a very polarized environment and one of the threads that have kept us together is our local government and decentralization system which operates on a non-partisan basis, and gives people the opportunity to play their role in the governance process in that non-partisan manner,” he said.

“Any attempt to make local elections partisan must tread very cautiously in order not to polarize this country from top to down,” the former Local Government Minister cautioned.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo advised that such a move would require “a lot of debate and argument and depends on arrangements that would be put in place.”

He thus advocated for the sustenance of the current system that sees MMDCEs appointed by the president.

“The system as we have now has kept this country together. It has built national cohesion at the bottom of development and it has ensured that there is balanced and even distribution of resources at the local level.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This is according to the Local Government Minister nominee, Hajia Alima Mahama, who explained that the change in government at the national level had to reflect at the assembly level.

[contextly_sidebar id=”niA8EUoBSJP0Gr2ALnucwOzkGmSahMH4″]“Once there is a change in government, we have to ensure that it goes through national to sub-national level and that is what we have effected,” she said on Eyewitness News.

“The Regional Ministers have gone, the ministers at the national level have gone so the District Chief Executives also have to go, in line with the change. We cannot effect change at the national level and not effect change at the sub-national.”

Hajia Alima explained that the government could not afford to have persons without the requisite locus “taking specific decision that are not in tandem with the policy outlook or framework of this government. That is why they have to hand over.”

She further downplayed assertions that the removal of the MMDCEs would affect the running of local government nationwide.

According to her, “if it is the day-to-day administration and the implementation of the activities that the district assembly has decided on, the staff are there, the offices are running as normal.”

All MMDCEs are to hand over their relevant duties to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Coordinating Directors (MMDCDs).

Unfortunate turn of events

Also speaking on Eyewitness News, a commentator on Local Government issues, George Kyei Baffour, however expressed disappointment in this development.

“Looking at it in the context of good governance and the enhancement of decentralization in this country, I think it is an unfortunate event because it kind of truncates the entire process of administrative and executive authority at the level of the assemblies.”

This turn of events has been the norm following regime changes, with new governments normally appointing new MMDCEs that align with its leanings.

Mr. Baffour indicated the only way to overcome this trend would be to have the MMDCEs elected, something the current government has planned to initiate in 2018.

“The ultimate will have to be done; getting the MMDCEs elected with their mandate coming directly from the people,” he said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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