Delay in MMDCEs nomination affecting local governance – ChaLoG

He said the Chamber was at a loss why the President who was able to nominate MMDCEs in April in 2017 during his first term in office, yet was unable to do so after seven months of being sworn in in January 2021.

Mr Romeo Akahoho, Executive Secretary of ChaLoG, told the Ghana News Agency-Tema Office that the seven months’ delay continued to have intended and unintended consequences on the smooth administration of the various MMDAs.

Mr Akahoho noted that “Ghanaians would recall that soon after the President was sworn into office on January 7, 2021, he caused the Chief of Staff to direct all MMDCEs to continue to remain at post.

“But were expressly warned not to take any major financial decision nor award any contracts until such a time that new MMDCEs were nominated and subsequently confirmed by two-thirds majority of Assembly Members present and voting”.

According to him, as a result of the directive, all the MMDAs across the country have not undertaken any new projects even though they continued to collect Property Rates, Business Operating Permits, Markets and Lorry Tolls from rate payers, “yet no capital projects are being undertaken by the Assemblies seven months into the year 2021”.

ChaLoG, he said, could authoritatively state that the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), which was meant to support the MMDAs to undertake development projects, had also not been released to them this years because of the delay in nominating MMDCEs.

He said the Chamber was at a loss why the President who was able to nominate MMDCEs in April in 2017 during his first term in office, yet was unable to do so after seven months of being sworn in in January 2021.

Mr Akahoho therefore called on the President to urgently announce the nominations for the confirmation to be done by the Assembly Members as the delay was eroding the gains made over the years in deepening local governance in the country.