Danish govt to help improve Ghana’s decentralisation process

The Danish government will, this year, come up with a number of programmes to help Ghana improve its decentralisation process.

According to the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Tove Degnbol, the programmes will be in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

In an interaction with the sector Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, in Accra on Tuesday, Ms Degnbol said some key sectors of Ghana’s economy, particularly transportation, water and sanitation, would also receive support.

The visit was for the two leaders to discuss ways of developing policies that would strengthen Ghana’s decentralisation process.

It was also for the Danish Ambassador to announce her government’s specific plans for the ministry, especially in the area of  water and sanitation for the rural population.

Touching on the decentralisation process, Ms Degnbol said the Danish government, between 2002 and 2003, supported the first comprehensive decentralisation policy of Ghana which had made some progress.

“We intend to support the government to improve on it this year,” she added.

Danish government

She also stated that the Danish government had laid out a plan to support the transportation, water and sanitation sectors, considering the fact that those sectors were key to enhancing Ghana’s development fortunes.

The Danish government, she added, had, over the past years, come up with a number of programmes to help address some of the development challenges in the country.

More structures

Hajia Mahama noted that decentralisation was an ongoing process and that the ministry would go beyond the district level to the sub-structures to enhance development and accountability.

She said there was the urgent need for a compost plant to be set up to help solve the country's solid waste problems and requested for assistance from the Danish government.

The minister assured the Ambassador of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's commitment to ensure the progress and sustenance of the country's decentralisation process.