About the local government system of Ghana

1. Public Administration in Ghana
Introduction to Ghana’s Local Government System
Lecturer: Dr. Paul Appiah-Konadu

2. Course Objectives
By the end of this section, students should be able to;
• Explain the concept of decentralization in the context of the
local government system
• Describe the nature of Ghana’s local government system
• Discuss the importance of local government within Ghana’s
Public Administration System

3. Presentation Outline
• Centralization
• Advantages of Centralization
• Decentralization
• Types of Decentralization
• Advantages of Decentralization
• Ghana’s Decentralization Policy
• The Structure of the New Local Government System of Ghana
• Lecture Summary

4. Centralization
• Centralization is the concentration of all decision-
making powers, functions and resources in the
central government, with all institutions of state
being directed and controlled from the ministries.
• Thus, centralization occurs when all decision-making
powers in an organization are centered at the
headquarters.

5. Advantages of Centralization
• Centralization affords quick decision making in a political system to meet
emergency situations.
• The administration system in centralization is less expensive to operate as compared
to decentralization.
• Centralization stands the chance of ensuring national integration
• Unlike decentralization in which there is a possibility of uneven development and
unhealthy relationship between local units, centralization on its part ensures fair
development throughout a political system. This is possible because of central
planning throughout the country.

6. Decentralization
• Decentralization is a management tool used in both the public and
private sectors.
• In the public sector however, decentralization is normally used to
refer to the transfer of powers, functions, financial resources and
administrative responsibilities from central government ministries
and agencies to sub-national structures, usually referred to as local
authorities or local government bodies.

7. Types of Decentralization
• There are various ways in which decentralization could be effected in a
country. However, for our purposes in local government, we settle on two
types of decentralization, which are deconcentration and devolution.
• Deconcentration, also sometimes referred to as administrative
decentralization involves the setting up of regional and district offices of
central government ministries, departments, etc. without the deposit of any
final legal authority. This is normally done for administrative convenience.
• Devolution is genuine decentralization and it involves a legal transfer of
authority or responsibility which cannot be easily taken back. Indeed,
devolution is mostly backed by legal and constitutional provisions.
• Ghana’s decentralization is based on the principle of devolution.

8. Advantages of Decentralization
• Some of the reasons given in support of decentralization in public
administration include the following:
• The political participation of local people in national governance - The
assumption here is that decentralization brings governance and decision-
making to the grassroots of a country.
• The reduction of cumbersome administrative procedures - The argument
here is that, cumbersome administrative procedures create slowness in
decision-making which sometimes lead to corruption. Decentralization
however brings flexibility in decision-making.

9. Advantages of Decentralization
• The development of local level initiatives - It is assumed that
through decentralization, local communities get the opportunity to
be part of planning for development interventions which affect
their lives directly.
• The training grounds for future national leaders - The assumption
here is that, decentralized local institutions offer opportunities to
people who aspire to higher national level offices in the future.
The above general assumptions also informed some of the decisions
for Ghana’s decentralization policy.

10. Ghana’s Decentralization Policy –Legal Framework
• Decentralization for local government has been part of Ghana’s attempts
to re-organize her Public Administration System. Its history goes back
even to the 1940’s.
• However, in recent times, decentralization has gained prominence with the
passage of the Provisional National Defence Council Law 207 (PNDCL
207) of 1998, which established the present local government system.
• The legal regime backing the new local government system includes
PNDCL 207 of 1998, Chapter 20 of the 1992 Fourth Republican
Constitution of Ghana, Local Government Service Act 656 of 2003 and
the Civil Service Law 327 of 1993.

11. Ghana’s Decentralization Policy
• The decentralization policy devolves central administrative
authority to the district level,
• Fuses governmental agencies in any given region or district into
one administrative unit through the process of institutional
integration, manpower absorption and composite budgeting,
• Devolves the center of implementation of responsibilities and
transfers those responsibilities to the districts.

12. Ghana’s Decentralization Policy
Ghana’s decentralization policy assigns functions and responsibilities to the
various levels of government as follows;
• Central government ministries/departments undertake policy planning,
quality assurance and determination of national priorities and standards.
• Regions, through the Regional Coordinating Councils play the role of co-
ordination, not in a regulatory manner, but to ensure consistency,
comparability and coherence of district level development.
• District Assemblies are primarily responsible for the implementation of
development policies and programs.

13. Ghana’s Decentralization Policy
• Decentralization in Ghana is thus envisaged to transfer powers,
functions, means and competence to the District assemblies from
Central Government Ministries and Departments.
• This policy forms the basis of Ghana’s new local government system
which was introduced in 1998. It is premised on the assumption that:
1. Development is that which responds to people’s problems and
represent their goals, objects and priorities.

14. Ghana’s Decentralization Policy
2. Development is a shared responsibility between central
government and local government and even non-state
actors.
3. Efficient and effective local government institutions are
necessary to provide focal points for local development.
4. District Assemblies are the institutions which have been
created to give expression to the above expectations.

15. The Structure of the New Local
Government System of Ghana
• In Ghana, the local authorities are referred to as
District Assemblies.
• There are three types of local authorities in Ghana.
They are: Metropolitan Assemblies which cover
the cities, Municipal Assemblies which are middle
level towns and District Assemblies which are the
smallest local authorities.

16. The Structure of the New Local Government
System of Ghana
• Source: Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (Ghana) Documents
Regional Co-
ordinating Councils
Metropolitan
Assemblies
Sub-
Metropolitan
District Councils
Town councils
Municipal
Assemblies
Zonal Councils
Unit
Committees
District
Assemblies
Urban/Town/Area
Councils

17. The Structure of the New Local
Government System of Ghana
• Ghana’s Local Government System is made up of a
four-tier Metropolitan Assembly and a three-tier
Municipal and District Assembly structures as the
figure above shows.
• Unit Committees are the lowest organs in the local
government system of Ghana.

18. Lecture Summary
• In this lecture, we have learn that:
• Decentralization in local government seeks to transfer functions, powers,
means and competence from the central to the local levels.
• As a concept, decentralization is meant to bring good governance to public
administration systems.
• Since 1998, Ghana has embraced a decentralization policy as part of her
public administration reforms.
• District Assemblies are at the centre of Ghana’s decentralization policy

19. Class Discussion
• What has been the positive effects of the district assembly
concept in Ghana’s public administration system?
• What are some of the challenges affecting the effectiveness of
the local government system of Ghana?
• In your view, what can be done to improve the effectiveness of
Ghana’s local government system?