DCE Nominees Pay bribes

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday March 4, 2011.
Kwamena Ahwoi, a former local government minister says Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) nominated by the President paid bribes before getting approval from their respective assemblies but failed to mention those who collect the bribes.

Prof. Ahwoi who is a Senior lecturer at GIMPA said “there is too much corruption. The DCEs have to pay bribes to be approved and as a result the effectiveness of the assemblies has been corrupted.”

Prof. Ahwoi was contributing to a Syndicated Thematic Group Discussions on Decentralization and Local Governance at the ongoing Constitution Review Conference in Accra yesterday.

After more than a year of consultations towards possible review of the 1992 Republican Constitution, the CRC is concluding its activities with the five-day conference to deliberate on issues in the constitution that have come up for review.

The conference serves as platform to table over 80,000 submissions received and processed by the commission; make use of experts to assist the conference to arrive at solutions and options for constitutional redesign, relate national experiences and issues with international best practices as well as build consensus around issues tabled for discussion at the conference.

Judging from the daily turn out, the conference can be said to be witnessing overwhelming participation from the public.

Professor Ahwoi, an ardent member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said DCEs are the products of the factions within ruling parties saying “being appointed as DCEs is like being appointed as a chief because the day you are enstooled it is that same day that they start plotting against you.

He said the situation has degenerated to the extent that competence is no longer a criterion for the nomination of DCEs and but rather it is popularity that reigns supreme in appointments.

Prof. Ahwoi said once a faction is unable convince the President to nominate their favourite they gang up to sabotage the DCE and that resulted in the numerous conflicts in the country.

He cautioned against the election of DCEs and said even if it has to be done it should include only those who were elected into the assemblies and not those who were nominated to the assemblies.

He said election of DCEs only bring out most popular persons and not the competent.
There were varied opinions on whether or not the position of a DCE should be elected.

While some said the current situation where the President nominates for the assembly to endorse, others were of the view that the current dispensation can be improved by giving the President the mandate to select between three and five persons for the assembly to endorse one.

Other contributors also argued for the election of DCEs because if that is done it would make the DCEs more responsive to the people and also ensure accountability.