A survey conducted by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) has revealed that 64 per cent of Ghanaians want the government to pause the creation of additional districts, citing concerns over the poor performance of existing district assemblies in delivering basic services.

The findings, based on a survey of 10,400 citizens across the country, were presented at a media launch of a research report titled “The Continuous Creation of Districts in Ghana: Legal, Developmental, Fiscal and Political Implications.”

Speaking at the launch, Isaac Owusu, Research Lead at CLGA, said the findings raised concerns about whether the continuous creation of districts was achieving its intended purpose of bringing governance closer to the people and improving access to essential services.

According to him, respondents assessed the performance of district assemblies across seven areas, including education, water, sanitation, roads and security, with the findings indicating an overall negative rating of 63 percent.

Owusu said the results suggested that government needed to reconsider the pace at which new districts were being created and focus on strengthening existing ones to ensure they could adequately serve their communities.

“Which means the government needs to take time in creating a district because, at the end of the day, creating a district is supposed to serve the basic needs of the people, but the citizens say they are not getting the benefits from such an initiative.

"So, we are saying we have to take our time and see how best we can help with the existing districts before creating more,” he stated.

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He further questioned the eligibility of some existing districts, arguing that certain assemblies might not have met the legal requirements for their establishment.

According to him, Ghana has established criteria under the Constitution and relevant laws to guide the creation of new districts and successive governments must ensure strict compliance with these requirements.

“If we are supposed to create more per the Constitution and the laws, we have criteria for creating a district. But if you look at some of the districts that have been created, you can see that they don’t qualify to be a district,” he said.

Owusu stressed that political considerations should not override the legal and developmental requirements governing the creation of districts, adding that adherence to the established procedures would help make district assemblies more effective.

As part of its recommendations, CLGA called on successive governments to strictly comply with the legal framework governing the creation of districts, irrespective of political interests.

The organisation also urged authorities to pay greater attention to the capacity and performance of existing district assemblies before considering the establishment of additional ones.

The report examines the legal, developmental, fiscal and political implications of Ghana’s continuous creation of districts, highlighting the need for a more evidence-based approach to decentralisation.

CLGA, a Ghanaian civil society organisation, works to promote good local governance, transparency, accountability, effective public financial management and citizen participation through research, advocacy, capacity building and policy engagement.

The organisation said the study was intended to provide evidence-based insights to inform national dialogue and policy decisions on decentralisation and local governance.

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