Professor Mamudu Akudugu, the Director of Research, Innovation and Partnership Services at the University for Development Studies, has appealed to government to migrate Assembly Members onto a full-time payroll for salary to promote their duties.

He also suggested that Assembly Members should be elected as it became a full-time job and no longer the perceived a voluntary contribution, to promote decentralisation and enhance development at the local level.

Professor Akudugu made the appeal during the zonal dialogue forum on the 2023 District Level Elections (DLE) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) Fiscal Sustainability for effective local governance, held in Tamale in the northern region.

The forum was organised by the Local Governance Network (LOGNet) in collaboration with Public Financial Management Network (PFM-Network) and the Chamber of Local Governance (CHaloG) in the three zones across the country, supported by GIZ.

It was to educate, sensitise, and raise awareness among stakeholders, citizens, non-state, and state actors alike, on the 2023 DLE, their expected roles to ensure success and the modalities to strengthen the fiscal power of MMDAs for an effective and efficient local governance system.

Professor Akudugu said there should be an implementation policy of payment of salaries to Assembly Members, to improve their duties and to enhance the entire national development agenda and governance architecture.

He called for monitoring and evaluation for Assembly Members’ functions at the district level.

Christopher Dapaah, the National Coordinator of the Local Governance Network-LOGNET said the involvement of citizens in the selection of their leaders had been a critical measure in decision-making.

There was huge gap in participation when comparing DLE and the national elections and indicated that although the country was a solid democratic nation, the narration would have been different if the nation’s democracy was to be rated based on participation in DLE.

He said it was important for stakeholders to engage citizens in the campaign to improve upon the Assemblies’ election.