Local govt upgrades: 13 Areas to become metropolises, 20 districts elevated
A Seven-member committee tasked with reviewing the elevation of selected districts and municipalities in the country has recommended upgrading 12 municipalities and one district to metropolitan status and 20 districts to municipalities.
The proposed elevations are to enhance administrative efficiency and accelerate development across the country.
The Chairman of the committee, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, announced this when he presented the committee's report to the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, in Accra last Monday.
Recommendations
Mr Asiedu Nketiah said the committee also put forward additional recommendations to strengthen local governance.
Those recommendations, he said, included developing a standard manual to guide future upgrades and introducing municipal bonds to empower local governments to generate revenue for specific development projects.
"The area of funding of local government should be looked at very critically. It is a potential goldmine," Mr Asiedu Nketiah said.
Another critical recommendation, he said, was to address the unique situation in Ketu South Municipality, which called for the creation of additional constituencies.
"You have a district with one MP who is responsible for leading more than 250,000 citizens," Mr Asiedu Nketiah said, contrasting it with other areas where an MP represents significantly fewer constituents.
He noted that Ketu South was the most populated district in the country in 1992, underscoring the long-standing need for decentralisation in the municipality.
He said the committee further recommended splitting the Central Gonja District in the Savannah Region and the Ningo Prampram Municipality.
The report also suggested a three-year plan with seed funding for rapid infrastructure development in upgraded districts, ensuring that new municipal statuses are reflected in tangible on-the-ground improvements.
The committee expressed hope that, if implemented, their comprehensive recommendations would create an "automaticity" for future upgrades, making the establishment of such a committee unnecessary.
Study
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, who received the report on behalf of the government, said the ministry would study the report carefully and forward the recommendations for the necessary approval by President John Dramani Mahama.
The Local Government Minister expressed satisfaction with the committee's work, saying this report would go beyond a technical document to serve as a roadmap for deepening local governance, enhancing service delivery, building the capacity of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and empowering communities.
Committee
Other members of the committee are former diplomats Akua Sena Dansua and Joseph Yieleh Chireh; a former Local Government Minister, Dr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo; a former Member of Parliament (MP), Ibrahim Dey, and two Planners, Samuel Seth Passah, and Nora Pappoe, who served as Secretary.
The committee had the mandate to support the government in fulfilling its pledge to strengthen decentralisation, improve governance and accelerate equitable development across the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
Background
In 2024, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo granted executive approval for the upgrade of selected districts to municipalities to metropolitan statuses.
This was announced by the then Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development in a press release on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
According to the statement, the changes were made following a request from the ministry and in accordance with the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936).
