Onetime Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Prof Kwamena Ahwoi has strongly criticized the creation of more districts and regions under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government.
With a population of about 35 million people, Ghana has 16 regions and 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Assemblies (MMDCEs). For decades, the country worked with 10 regions until the government promised to create 6 more regions and subsequently created more districts.
Despite this number, citizens continue to clamour for more districts arguing that will translate into development.
But the former minister under late President Jerry John Rawlings has rejected this saying, Ghana has enough regions and districts already advising that going forward, more should not be created.
Speaking at a two-day ‘national dialogue on decentralization and responsive governance’ organized by the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization (IMCCD) under the auspices of the presidency, Prof Ahwoi, accused successive presidents of not respecting the rules governing the creation of districts.
In the past, he said, districts and regions were created for purely political and partisan interests.
He said Ghana fared well with just 10 regions pointing out that adding on six (6) did not bring the intended benefits.
“It is my view that we have already exceeded the optimum number of regions and districts that the country needs. For a period of about 50 years, the country survived with a minimum of 10 regions creating 6 regions in only two years in 2018 to 2019 was definitely an over reach, no tangible benefits to show for it”, he said.
Prof Ahwoi added that “For districts, it is obvious that our presidents have not kept faith with the population threshold required for the creation of districts contained in the local government Act of 1993 and the Local Governance Act of 2016 and have only created those districts purely for partisan political reasons”.
He said this abuse of the process has birthed so many districts which are not fit for purpose and planning.
“The result is the current excessive number of 261 districts many of which are non-viable and many of whom cannot be used for planning purposes, a key rational for creation of districts.
In short, many of today’s districts are not fit for purpose, a development that is the report of the Justice Sereboi Commission of enquiry into electoral and local governance warned against after the overthrow of the CPP government in 1966”.
He also expressed disquiet about the categorization of the various assemblies indicating the intention behind it has been abused.
“The basis for the categorization of districts into Metropolises, Municipalities and Districts have similarly been abused. That is how come metropolis have increased from three (3) in 1993 to six (6) today and municipalities have grown exponentially from four (4) in 1993 to more 70 today. It is also important that a specific attributes of the specific categories are spelt out in the law”, the longest serving Local Government Minister said.
By Gifty Boateng