Governance and public policy analyst Dr Solahudeen Tando has proposed a model for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) that involves Members of Parliament. The proposal was made at the National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance in Accra.
A Shift in Appointment Responsibility?
Dr Tando's model would transfer the appointment responsibility of MMDCEs from the President to Members of Parliament. He argued that this would be a more effective way to address the decentralisation of power, as MPs are already de facto development agents in their constituencies. According to Dr Tando, MPs routinely campaign on local development priorities and constituents hold them accountable for these outcomes.
Under the proposed model, MPs would appoint MMDCEs as development representatives within a regulated professional framework. This framework would include clear qualification and competence standards and safeguards against unrestricted political patronage. Dr Tando argued that this would make competence an integral part of the appointment process while retaining identifiable political accountability.
A Wider Accountability Question
Dr Tando questioned whether the proposed election of MMDCEs adequately resolves the deeper institutional problems confronting local governance. He noted that the existing political and institutional realities surrounding MPs mean that constituents already hold them accountable for development outcomes. However, formal responsibility for local development rests principally within the District Assembly system.
Dr Tando asked, "If both the MP and MMDCE acquire separate democratic legitimacy within substantially the same development space, who ultimately bears political accountability for constituency development when things go right or wrong?" He argued that this is a wider accountability question that Ghana must confront before creating another independently elected political office within substantially the same territorial development space.
A Regulated System
Dr Tando proposed a regulated system under which relevant public institutions provide professional safeguards around the appointment process. The Public Services Commission could establish appropriate professional and person specifications, while the role and performance expectations of the MMDCE would align with the applicable district development framework and national development planning architecture.
He argued that such safeguards could make competence an integral part of the appointment process while retaining identifiable political accountability. Dr Tando acknowledged that his proposal requires further constitutional and institutional scrutiny, including safeguards against excessive concentration of power.
A Broader Reconceptualisation of District Assemblies
Dr Tando also called for a broader reconceptualisation of District Assemblies beyond their conventional treatment as local administrative structures. He proposed that the District Assembly should be understood as "a territorial platform through which the fragmented functional state becomes an integrated local service experience in the delivery of public value."
Under this conception, decentralisation should ultimately be assessed through the experience of citizens at the local level rather than principally through the number of functions formally transferred or institutions established. Dr Tando said, "Decentralisation must make the state coherent at the point where the citizen experiences it."
Source: JOY
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