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<\/p>\nThe Akufo-Addo government has presented a Legislative Instrument (LI) to Parliament, for the creation of 38 new districts and municipal assemblies.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the Local Government Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, said the LI will also give legal backing to other districts and municipalities which have been elevated or split.<\/p>\n
She justified the move, arguing that the creation of the new assemblies will strengthen government’s resolve to spread of development across the country through local governance.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Eqim1dunQyKJ1TGGwSEe9Uynz2QQPjln”]\u201cWe\u2019ve 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 government system is to ensure that all persons in the district participate in the governance system and feel part of the governance system. So we\u2019ve decided to increase the number of districts, the districts that are big, divide them into other districts.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that, provision has been made for the yet to be created assemblies in the 2018 budget.<\/p>\n
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Some of the new assemblies to be created after the passage of the LI by Parliament, include Ayawaso East and North, carved out of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and Kwadaso and Oforikrom, from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.<\/p>\n
Others are the Nanton district, which will be created from the Savelugu-Nanton district, whilst Savelugu will be given a municipality status.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we have some districts that the President has elevated into municipalities. So in those instances, they are not new assemblies, it\u2019s just elevating their status so that category is there. And some metropolitan assemblies have grown big and the president thought that he should carve some out and make them their own municipalities. For example, Ayawaso East, which is the Nima area, it\u2019s been carved out to be a municipality, and Ayawaso North, which is the Newtown area, is also a municipality on its own. And Oforikrom and Kwadaso for example, can all stand on their own,\u201d the Local Government Minister added.<\/p>\n
Avedzi welcomes new district creation<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking about the creation of the new districts, Deputy Minority leader, James Klutse Avedzi, welcomed the creation, but said it comes with its own cost and benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt involves more bureaucracy, and it also involves additional cost to government because you have to put up the infrastructure to accommodate those new districts that are created. You also need the personnel to work in those districts. That\u2019s the cost aspect, but one other aspect that we could look at critically is about the benefit in terms of development. It facilitates speedy development of those areas,\u201d Mr. Avedzi added.<\/p>\n The last time new districts were created in Ghana was in 2012, and was initiated by late President John Evans Atta Mills.<\/p>\n A total of 46 new district and municipalities were created. The Electoral Commission subsequently created new constituencies within the new areas.<\/p>\n This means that, new constituencies may be created ahead of the 2020 elections, after the new districts become legal and operational.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey & Caleb Kudah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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