The Civil Society Organisations Platform for Good Governance (CSOPGG) has called on President Akufo-Addo to release the list of appointees for the positions of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) for all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAS).

According to CSOPGG, the President must ensure that the list was gender balanced and inclusive. Also, it must contain “at least 30 per cent of MMDCEs in every region should be females”.

Contained in a statement, members of the CSOPGG expressed their displeasure over the delay in appointing MMDCEs. Mr Alhassan Mohammed Awal, Executive Director of Norsaac, highlighted the need for the President to make available the list of MMCE appointments.

“We note with dissatisfaction, the President’s decision to keep MMDCEs in acting capacity for close to a year and creating confusion in our minds as to whether they are serving their second term as per the provision of Article 246 (2) of the 1992 Constitution.

“That the so-called acting capacity of MMDCEs has weakened the Executive authority in the assemblies and has subsequently affected the legislative and deliberative powers and functions of the assemblies”.
CSOPGG

CSSOPGG disgruntled over appointments delay

Highlighting the challenges encountered by the acting MMDCEs, the group revealed that some of the appointments have been forced to work from home. This, the group revealed, doesn’t augur well for community engagement with the public.

Furthermore, it expressed concerns also that government reluctance to make funds available to these MMDCEs to carry out needed projects.

“Most of the MMDCEs are either operating from homes or in secluded places making citizens’ interactions with local authorities challenging, if not impossible. At the same time, they have lost their voice to speak against the current ills because most of them are seeking reappointment from the President”.

“We express our dissatisfaction in the government’s failure to release in the fourth quarter of 2020 District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) to MMDAs across the country to better serve citizens and keep work of the assemblies uninterrupted”.
CSOPGG

Call on relevant stakeholders to address the situation

To this end, the group has urged citizens including the media to develop the needed interest in the current state of the assemblies and “demand for the right things to be done”.

“The fourth quarter of 2020 DACF must be released without any further delays and efforts made to release the first, second and third quarters of this year’s DACF to all assemblies”.

On September 5, 2021, President Akufo-Addo revealed that the list of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) will be released in the month of September.

According to the President necessary consultations were ongoing to pick the right persons for the assemblies.

In January, President Akufo-Addo directed all MMDCEs to remain at post until new ones are appointed.

Speaking about the delay, the President said “there is the need for broad consultations and that is what I have done. We have set up committees at the regional and national levels to make recommendations for me”.