Transcript IMPROVING LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE COMMONWEALTH …

IMPROVING LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
THE COMMONWEALTH VISION
A PRESENTATION BY
HON. JOSEPH YIELEH CHIREH(MP), MINISTER OF LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, GHANA
Contd.
Carl Wright, Secretary-General,
Margaret Eaton, Chair Local Government Association
of England And Wales
Mr. Jean Perrault, President, Federation of Canadian
Municipalities
Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a pleasure to be here and I bring you greetings
From Ghana.
Contd.
In Ghana the provision of basic services and
infrastructure is a shared responsibility
between the Central Government and the
Local Authorities. The Local Authorities are
an important and integral part of the Ghana
public sector as they have significant
responsibility in the delivery of basic services
such as primary education, basic health care
water and sanitation.
Contd.
The Local Government Reforms and the
Decentralization Policy seek to empower the
Local Authorities to promote local democracy
through effective participation and basic
service delivery geared towards the
attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs
Contd.
The mandates, roles and responsibilities of Local
Authorities in this direction are enshrined in the
Constitution, the Local Government Act and
other enabling legislations on Local
Government. The roles and responsibilities of the
Local Authorities have been expanded over the
years. Under the decentralized system the Local
Authorities are the highest political,
administrative and planning authorities in their
respective areas of jurisdiction.
Contd.
The Local Authorities have the mandate to
prepare Medium Term Development Plans
reflecting on the needs and priorities of the
various communities. Such plans are
prepared through participatory processes.
Contd.
The plans are prepared based on guidelines
developed by the National Development Planning
Commission (NDPC) which is a central body
established under the constitution of Ghana.
The developed Medium Term Development Plans of
the Local Authorities have to be approved by the
NDPC and the approved plans rolled out as the
annual plans of the Local Authorities for the delivery
of services.
The targets set out in the development plans forms
the basis of ascertaining the achievements of the
Local Authorities
Contd.
To address the capacity issue at the local level of both the
staff and councilors of local authorities, the Institute of
Local Government Studies (ILGS) has been established and
given the legal mandate by an Act of Parliament to build
the capacities of functionaries of the Local Authorities.
On yearly basis they draw programme offering courses and
training in areas of planning, financial management,
leadership, management and others.
Another area is to give orientation to new functionaries on
their roles and responsibilities to ensure transparency and
accountability at the local level.
Contd.
To address the long term human resource
needs of the Local Authorities the
government through an Act Parliament has
established a Local Government Service
(LGS).
The rationale is to provide adequate and
competent professionals to support the
activities of the Local Authorities.
Contd.
Furthermore, on annual basis the Ministry organizes
review conferences for the Chief Executives of the
Local Authorities to review their performances and
adopt strategies to resolve common problems.
It also provides the platform for Government to
share and equip the Chief Executives with
information on national programmes and priorities.
Such fora also afford the Chief Executives the
opportunity to share information and best practices
among themselves.
Contd.
As a measure of improving service delivery at
the local level the responsibility is bestowed
on the Sector Ministries and the Local
Governments.
The role of the Central Ministries is basically to
support the local Authorities through the
formulation of appropriate policies,
programmes, guidelines and setting of
targets.
Contd.
However, the sectors take responsibility for
the delivery of specific services such as higher
education, health, water and sewage, roads
etc.
The sector Ministries come out with the policy
objectives for the medium term and roll it out
on yearly basis.
The major challenge in the preparation of the
medium term strategy is the access to
reliable data and information.
Contd.
To enhance the delivery of better services at
the local level, the constitution provides for
the establishment of the District Assemblies
Common Fund (DACF) which constitute not
less than 5% of total government revenues to
be set aside and distributed to Local
Authorities to finance development activities.
Contd.
This initiative provides the Local Authorities
with the necessary resource base for the
development initiatives. Currently the DACF
constitutes 7.5% of the national revenue and
this constitutes about 30% - 35% on the
average of national investment expenditure.
Since the introduction of the DACF in 1994,
the DACF constitute the main and reliable
source of funding to the Local Authorities.
Contd.
Under the DACF 2% of the fund is set up
annually to provide for capacity building and
development initiatives to promote efficiency
in the Local governments.
This facility is used for human resource
development and provision of needed
logistics of the Local Authorities.
Through this facility over the years the central
government has been able to resource the
departments of the Local authorities.
Contd.
As part of measures to improve service delivery at the local
level the government adopted the policy of Public Private
Partnerships as a measure to mobilize additional financial
resources and skills to support the local Authorities.
Under the PPP policy most of the services are out-sourced
to the private enterprises with the Local Authorities
providing supervisory roles.
The major challenge under the policy include the weak
financial base of the private enterprises and effective
contract management and administration on the part of
the Local Authorities.
Contd.
To further improve on the performances of the Local Authorities the
government has introduced the District Development Facility (DDF)
which is an initiative of the Government of Ghana and key Development
Partners on Decentralization. The DDF is aims at:

mobilizing additional discretionary Funds to the Local Authorities

harmonizing development funding to the local authorities

annually accessing the performance of Local Authorities on their
mandate on agreed indicators.

providing scientific basis for capacity building and development
initiatives..
Contd.
Capacity gaps that are identified during the assessment processes
are addressed through the provision of capacity enhancement
funds which are integral in the DDF.
The Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT ) is applied
to determine the performance of District Assemblies before they
benefit from DDF.
The DDF-FOAT initiative is also to promote the culture of
improving the performances at the Local Level and enhancing
continuous capacity improvement of local level government
functionaries.
The assessment also validates the routine functions of the Local
Government Inspectorate Directorate
Contd.
In the operations of the Local Authorities an
identified gap is the use of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool to
enhance the governance processes.
Thus the use of E-Governance as a tool in
management by the Local Authorities has not
become integral part of the operational
mechanisms in Ghana. This is due to lack of
competencies in ICT both the hardware and soft
wares.
Contd.
Lack of internet connectivity to the various towns
and communities are part of the issues that account
for the problem.
To address this issue the government under the
various projects and programmes of the ministries,
Departments and Agencies is incorporating ICT
training to the competencies of the staff.
In addition the Government is introducing ICT as a
subject on the curriculum of both basic education
and secondary education levels
Contd.
In order to improve performance of the Local Authorities in the
delivery of basic services and infrastructure and also ensure value
for money, the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Community
Based Organizations (CBOs) and Traditional Authorities (TAs)
have been assigned roles in monitoring the performance of the
Local Authorities.
They are to promote the demand side of the accountability
processes through the sharing of information and demand for
accountability on behalf of the citizenry from the local
government functionaries.
They are also to mobilize resources both human and material to
support the activities of the Local Authorities in the areas
affecting the vulnerable, poor and marginalized segments of
society.
Contd.
In passing, permit me to mention that the new Government
of Ghana is committed to deepening decentralization to
improve local government and as such arrangements are
being made to review the decentralization process.
This is necessary because, after 20 years of practicing the
District Assembly system, we find it worthwhile to have this
review involving all relevant stake holders including
political party representatives.
Through this, some of the institutional and legal framework
which impede the smooth implementation of
decentralization would be removed and a clear way
forward mapped out.
Conclusion
In conclusion, under the decentralized system in Ghana,
the local Authorities are being empowered to deliver
basic services and improve the standard of living to the
communities, towns and cities to meet the demands of
the citizenery.
Despite the challenges the Local Authorities as the
closest institution to the communities have the
potential to identify the needs and priorities and also
provide solutions in addressing them.
Sharing experiences from the various countries within
the commonwealth on how to improve service delivery
by the Local Authorities is a worthy effort.
Conclusion
On this note, I want to thank the
Commonwealth Local Government Forum for
the invitation and the opportunity to
participate in the conference.