By
Joyce Danso/Victoria Asante, GNA
Accra, Jan. 28, GNA
– Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) were on
Tuesday tasked to strike a delicate balance with their relationship with local
and external parties particularly Chiefs and Members of Parliament (MPs) in
order to succeed.
MMDCEs must also
improve their interaction with their communities for the delivery of public
goods, a survey conducted by the Political Science Department of the University
of Ghana has recommmended.
The survey also
identified irregular interaction between the MMDCEs in their communities as a
worrying situation.
Additionally, the
acrimonies between MMDCE’s and MPs for the delivery of public goods ought to be
resolved to avert the stifling of sustainable local development.
The survey also
revealed that Party Constituency Chairpersons, were seen as the most influential
on the MMDCEs with Chiefs having cordial relationship with MMDCEs.
The research
conducted in 2017 and 2019 saw 27,500 respondents answering questions in
relation to the appointment of MMDCEs, MMDCEs and influential Actors, Members
of Parliament, Communities and developmental projects, Performance of MMDCEs
and 2020 Presidential Elections among others.
The survey which
conducted in 275 Constituencies was on the theme: “Assessment of the
Performance of MMDCE’s from the Perspective of the Constituents.”
The survey which
also sought to ascertain popular opinions of
MMDCEs Nationwide was funded by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a German-based
political foundation.
Mr. Kaakyire
Frimpong, a Senior Lecturer of the Department and one of the Researchers noted
that, as a representatives of the President, MMDCEs were expected to travel to
their constituents in other to ease the problem of “remoteness of the local
people from the central government”.
Mr Frimpong who is
also a Senior Lecturer said the proximity of MMDCEs to the people is one of the
deliberate strategy to assuage the people’s fear that the center has not
neglected them in terms of decision making.
He recounted that
MMDCEs’ regular visits to the communities were therefore meant to ease
psychological and emotional burdens of the people in addition to see to their
socio-economic welfare.
The Senior Lecturer
said the survey indicated that MMDCEs did not frequently visit their
communities to obtain firsthand information and attend to their welfare matters
or concerns.
According to him,
the survey revealed that 51.4 per cent of MMDCE’s visit their community once a
while, whiles 39.0 per cent of respondents indicated that their MMDCE’s have
never come to their communities.
MMDCEs are the
agents of central government who are to bring about the needed change and
people looked up to them to stimulate local development.
He said almost half
of the respondents denounced their MMDCEs for their inability to bring
development to their localities.
According to him
15.5 per cent of the respondent indicated they did not know of the development
projects the MMDCEs have undertaken in their localities
Critical social
infrastructure such as markets (4.3 per cent), roads (6.5 per cent) and schools
(10.1 per cent) have received little attention.
The picture of low
development is a reflection of the poor performance of the MMDCEs, only 2.4 per
cent rated their MMDCEs in the delivery of community development projects as
excellent; 6.3 per cent ‘very good’ and 24.6 per cent as ‘good’ a cumulative score
of 33.3 per cent.
However, he said the
question as to whether the performance of MMDCEs would affect the people’s
choices in the 2020 Presidential poll, a little over half (51.0 per cent) said
they would not link their choice of the president to the failures of the
MMDCEs.
“But that should not
give much comfort to the ruling party, given that a significant minority (39.9
per cent) said they would use the performance of the MMDCEs as proxy for the
achievement of the President in the locality,” he added.
He explained that
evidence from the survey showed that majority supported non-partisan choice of
MMDCEs and assembly members.
“The responses to
the election of assembly members on partisan lines were: Yes (24.0 per cent),
No (69.4 per cent), don’t know (6.6 per cent),” the survey indicated.
On the election of
MMDCEs on partisan lines, Mr. Frimpong said 31.4 per cent responded “Yes”, 61.5
per cent responded “No” and 7.1 per cent said they did not know.
He explained that
the views expressed by the respondents in the study might have been influenced
by the confusion that surrounded the referendum processes and the lack of
education which led to the withdrawal of the Bills.
Mr. Frimpong said it
was a worrying development that after decades of practicing the current local
government system in Ghana, less than a fifth of the respondents could not
answer the basic issue of mode of appointment of the MMDCE correctly.
He said similarly
for several of the other questions in the survey, a large chunk of respondents,
usually more than 40 per cent expressed lack of knowledge towards local
governance which is closest to the people.
There is the urgent
need for the MMDAs, the NCCE, the media and other stakeholders to embark on
intensive education to reverse this trend, he stressed.
Professor Emmanuel
Debrah, Director of Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy noted that
the survey was not based on speculation but they are realities on the ground.
Professor Debrah
urged stakeholders to take note of the lessons drawn out of the survey
seriously.
Dr Maame
Gyekye-Jandoh, Head of Political Science Department said the survey which threw
more light on local administration was going to help local development and
political participation of the people at the grassroots.
GNA
