Don’t undermine decentralisation policy

Last Tuesday, the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country were inaugurated, notwithstanding a few challenges, including the issue of government appointees.

While the Daily Graphic lauds the government and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for successfully inaugurating the assemblies, one thing that cannot be glossed over is the issue of government appointees.

Already, the competence and experience of some of these appointees are being called into question and doubted long before they get down to actual assembly work.

Since 1988 when the current decentralisation policy was initiated in the country, people with expertise and know-how have been appointed by the government to serve on the assemblies to aid in effective administration and development at the local levels.

No wonder we have had highly skilled professionals, including lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, as well as experienced agriculturalists and farmers, appointed to serve on the assemblies.

Regrettably, over the years, particularly into the Fourth Republican journey, appointees to the assemblies seem to be appointed on the basis of ‘job for the boys and for surrogates’.

These appointees only tend to become political tools in the hands of the ruling class, instead of true agents of development and change at the grass-roots levels.

It is our contention that at this stage of national development, the country needs appointees with the requisite skills, expertise and understanding of the issues at stake to proffer solutions to meet the needs of the people at the local level.

Article 242 of the 1992 Constitution spells out how appointees are appointed. However, to consolidate the gains made in the country’s decentralisation and local government system, the Daily Graphic supports the long-held view that the government must ensure the proper calculation of the 30 per cent appointees in the respective assemblies to avoid the chaos and acrimony that often characterise the calculation of this figure any time assemblies are to be inaugurated.

This simple calculation has created a lot of misunderstanding in many districts, hence the need for absolute clarity.

The call by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy on assembly members to be given letters indicating their commencement and expiry dates is worth considering. This is necessary because it will go a long way to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to conduct district-level elections before the expiration of their tenure.