A Local governance expert, Amon Kotei, has disclosed that government has corrupted the local government system in the country, particularly in its process of confirming an MMDCE nominee.
Monetisation of the process of confirming an MMDCE, according to Mr Kotei, has become a bane to the process of choosing a competent person to occupy the portfolio.
Hitherto, he explained that assembly members carried their own investigation by eliciting information on the “technical knowledge”, financial management and other credentials of the nominee.
This, he revealed, was to “abreast themselves with why the President nominated the person”. Following this, assembly members then inform the general assembly and then “they vote on him”.
“We have in a way corrupted the whole local government system in the country and the effect is what we are seeing. Previously, when the President nominates someone, by the standing orders, the assemblies shall form an ad hoc committee to vet the nominee [and] it is because the members must be part of the decision making… Come 2019, the standing orders have been amended and we don’t have the assembly members interacting with the nominee before the elections”.
Mr Amon Kotei
Vetting of nominees by assembly members, paramount
Mr Kotei acknowledged that although corruption predates 2019, it has now become “obvious”. The “window of opportunity” available to assembly members to be “part of decision making” process, he emphasized, has been taken away. This, Mr Kotei noted, may account for the growing corruption within the local government.
He explained that vetting of nominees by the assembly is crucial to the entire process of confirmation.
“When an ad hoc committee of the assembly is formed, it’s formed within the framework of activities of the assembly. So, you have the coordinating director and other members being part of that ad hoc committee to vet the nominee. So, the result is well they would have to wait till the election date, then the member comes with a piece of note, read it to them and they go and vote. Some on their own invite assembly members… after that some envelopes are given. So, we have corrupted the system ourselves.
“So far as I am concerned, I have been an assembly member before… there was nothing like that. It [corruption] could have been part of it as we all know is happening now; but I’m saying that the spirit behind the assembly members being part of the vetting is very paramount. Yes, the President has done the nomination but the real appointment resides in the hands of assembly members. So, if their window of opportunity has been taken away, now they’re left with what?”
Mr Amon Kotei
Women are less corrupt
On his part, the dean of studies and research at the Institute of Local Government Studies, Richard Agyarko Oduro, commended the appointment of Elizabeth Sackey as the Mayor for Accra. According to him, we need more of women representation in such positions as the number of “38 is woefully inadequate”.
Mr Oduro revealed that it is important for more women to occupy significant position so that they can bring onboard that “feminine side to leadership”.
“I am very unhappy with the number of women we have in these roles. I have a strong belief that women are less corrupt. When it comes to issues with local government… women play critical roles. So, having a woman as a chief executive, even for Accra, should be a plus for us. I am also praying that the chief executive succeeds because we need to make a stronger case for more women to be appointed to these important position…
“If we have women who are very good at what they do, it will come to show that the over fifty percent of the population are also adequately represented, then, we must also support the women to succeed. If you look at the appointments that came… even with her [Elizabeth Sackey], in Greater Accra, we saw what happened in Ododioodio. People were out on the streets burning tyres because a woman has been appointed in place of somebody they would have preferred. This is not acceptable. We must rather support the women”.
Richard Agyarko Oduro
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