Maintain appointment of DCEs
Participants in a Constitution dialogue have argued against the election of district chief executives, terming it as unnecessary and costly.
Advertisement
They said the system where the government appointed DCEs who had to be endorsed by assembly members of that particular district must be maintained.
The constitution dialogue series was organised by the Centre for Development Research and Advocacy (CeDRA), a policy tink-tank, in collaboration with the British High Commission to gather inputs from targeted communities into the amendments of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
The Programme Director, Mr Kobby Gomez-Mensah, said the dialogue series was to provide education for constituents on various proposals for amendment.
It was on the topic: “Natural Resource Ownership and Management and Whether the DCE position should be Elective Or Appointive”.
Mr Ken Arthur, an assembly member, said the current appointive system should be maintained to avoid undue political interference and corruption.
He said the role played by assembly members in confirming a nominated person by the government was to ensure that the right candidate was selected for the post.
Nana Owuekyerama II, Obaahemaa for Owurado at Agona, also supported the argument to maintain the appointing system.
Other Trending Stories
Mr George Aboagye, Member of Parliament for Agona-Nkwanta, however, did not agree with the appointing system but said a fix term of office would ensure job security.
He said very often, such appointive positions were not secure, as the appointing authority could remove the person at any time.
Mr Mawuse Oliver-Barker, a researcher officer of the defunct Constitutional Review Commission, said government white paper on the matter was to appoint six persons who would be vetted and screened to three.
The three would then go through national elections for the citizens of Ghana to elect one person for the position.. — GNA