The high stakes nature of parliamentary elections in Ghana, particularly by-elections, where all the big men and women converge in the districts amid high tension and violence, underscore once again the need for effective local government in Ghana.

Why all the acrimony just to appoint a lawmaker? The job of an MP is to make good laws for Ghana and to provide oversight of the executive.

Through legislating and oversight, an MP is an indirect tool for development and growth. Some experts have argued that a group of 100 good lawyers and other professionals can make all the laws and oversight that Ghana needs.

But for political expediency by both political parties, the number has been bumped up repeatedly to 276 through Gerrymandering.

This has occurred at the expense of developing an effective local government system for Ghana, where strong interest and competition will thrive locally.

The fight for political office in Ghana has centered around the national executive, i.e. the President and Legislatures (MPs). What has completely been left out is an effective local executive, i.e. the DCEs. The DCE, as the unit of executive office in Ghana, is currently being appointed by the president with approval of the District Assembly. He is supposed to be the president’s representative in the district. This top-down approach is in variance with the bottom-up approach in modern governance structure. How can the president, sitting in Accra know what the people need in the district? How can he be the one appointing the one to address their needs?

The DCE is the CEO of the district. He is the direct agent for development. He must be someone who really understands the challenges of the area.

He must use his experience and expertise to harness the strengths and weaknesses of the district for development. Clearly the people must have the upper hand on who is appointed so that he can be held accountable if he doesn’t deliver.

Unfortunately, the current situation which is defined by the 1992 Constitution has weakened the local executive.

He seems not to know what to do as he awaits direction from the president, the people stand helpless in their impoverishment, and nothing really happens in the districts.

This has created fertile grounds for MPs to move into that space. We see MPs running around the country building all kinds of projects, whereas they should be in Accra doing their job.

We see MPs on campaign platforms touting the projects they have completed, instead of touting the laws and oversight they have helped to achieve. Yet, they count large numbers of absenteeism in parliament.

The MPs have become a very large entity in Ghanaian politics, increasing in size and numbers every day. A job that 100 professionals could do, 276 are on it. And instead of focusing on making laws and oversight, they have become the defacto local executives, building toilets, roads, police stations, community centers etc. in the districts and usurping the powers of the DCEs.

They have become the rich and influential people in the districts and call all the shots. Meanwhile, some of them have hardly made any statement in parliament in many years.

And the icing on the cake for MPs is ministerial appointments! MPs look forward to ministerial appointments. This is one of the major errors of the 1992 Constitution. This effectively removes the fine line between the executive and the legislature and throws separation of powers and oversight into the wind!

So, it should be of no surprise that parliamentary by-elections in Ghana have become such high-profile events prone to violence. The stakes are indeed too high for the politicians!

What about the people in the districts who live in poverty and hopelessness every day? They are swept into this parliamentary election euphoria but the real issues that affect them regarding roads, schools, sanitation, security, farms, businesses are hardly addressed.

They are in dire need of a local executive who they can call their own, and who can address their issues permanently. Once they have this person, the focus will naturally shift from MPs to DCEs. And parliamentary elections will therefore not be a do-or-die affair for them.

Clearly the 1992 Constitution needs to be amended to correct the issues listed above. But until then, here are some suggestions to the president to improve the quality of DCEs he appoints.

1. Put public notice in major newspapers inviting applications for all the DCEs

2. Setup a vetting committee in each district, comprising;

a. Rep from the Public Services Commission who shall be the chair.
b. Rep from the District Assembly.
c. Rep from the Traditional Authority.
d. The MP of the area.
e. Rep from farmers association.
f. Rep from business association.
g. Rep from the office of the president (who could be a former DCE).

3. Applicants will be expected to provide their CVs and a cover letter detailing their understanding of the challenges of the districts and how they can help achieve the president’s agenda for development in the district.

4. The committee shall meet the applicants who will be required to defend their application. The committee shall select the best candidate and forward to the president.

5. The president shall appoint the candidate and send to the Assembly for approval.

6. The committee shall setup clear KPIs to assess the performance of the appointee. The committee meets once a year to assess the performance of the DCE.

7. The committee shall recommend to the president for the DCE’s removal when KPIs are not met.

8. The committee shall keep MPs and others in check from usurping the duties of the DCE. Developmental opportunities shall go through the DCE.

Finally, I hope I have demonstrated in this paper that by improving the local government structure in Ghana, and its effectiveness, we will be able to reduce the tension and violence associated with parliamentary by-elections. And we will set the proper foundation and focus on a vibrant local government system for development in the districts.