Politics

Think tank lauds amendment of local govt law

Kandifo Institute, a governance, economic and leadership think tank, has lauded the government for the amendment of Article 243 (1) of the local government law which has

 paved the way for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs).

“The president must be allowed to remove any MMDCE whose action or inaction is found to have contravened the constitution from office which is consistent with the executive system of the governance system,” it said.

In a statement issued by Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, the Executive Director of the Institute, said having followed the processes to ensure the promise was fulfilled, the institute was impressed with the work done so far and commended the government for commitment, dedication and determination in ensuring the law was amended to pave the way for the election of MMDCEs.

It said Parliament has amended Article 243(1) of the local government law to take away the president’s power to appoint MMDCEs and has handed same to the electorate to decide who led them at the local level.

The statement said there has been suggestions by local governance experts on the need for parliament to equally amend Article 243(3) which gave power to the president to remove from office any MMDCE, purpose of amending the law would be defeated if the article was not amended to deny the president the power to remove from office any MMDCE.

“We are committed, dedicated, determined and resolved in ensuring the processes leading to the election of MMDCEs are successful, as an institute that prides in undertaking critical research in areas of governance, leadership and economic policy to initiate development discourse, is ready to work with the government and other stakeholders in this regard.

“Having pledged our support and assistance to the processes, we call on other stakeholders such as the National House of Chiefs, National Commission for Civic Education, political parties, Christian Council, Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Federation of Muslim Councils in Ghana, various labour unions, civil societies to support and assist in the processes to ensure success is achieved.

“We urge the citizenry to turn out in their numbers to vote in the December 17, 2019, referendum across the country and also vote ‘YES’,” the statement said. -myjoyonline.com

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