Issaka Amon
Kotei, a local governance expert, has insisted that there is no defect in the
current local government system being practised in the country and urged Parliament
to withdraw from tampering with Article 243 of the 1992 Constitution.
“What we need is some slight changes just to put
us on the right track, we don’t need a major paradigm shift, the system should
be tweaked to allow agencies like the Public Services Commission among others
to vet appointees after their nomination by the president,” he suggested.
The amendment of Article 55(3) seeks to repeal
the provision of the constitution which bars political parties from local
assembly and district level elections, if approved in the referendum, it will
pave way for Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to
be elected on partisan basis if Parliament completes amendment of Article 243 (1)
to make the position elected instead of appointed.
But Dr Kotei maintained that parliament must
reconsider the amendment of the Local Government Law to enable the president to
still appoint MMDCEs.
On the contrary, Dr Oduro Osae, the Technical
Advisor at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, observed
that time was ripe for the nation to democratise local government system, just
as had been done at the national level saying “why is it we have
constitutional democracy, yet we have to still inherit the Provisional National
Defence Commission law? The progress and reform of our local government system
is necessary now.”
The Constitution requires at the referendum for
40 per cent of qualified voters will vote,
out of the 40 per cent that will vote in the
referendum, 75 per cent must vote ‘yes’ in favour of the referendum, following
the successful completion of the referendum, Parliament will have to amend
Article 55(3) to pave the way for the election of MMDCEs. -kasapafmonline.com
