Participation and Accountability is key to successful decentralization
By Akwasi Fredua
Whenever there is no participation and accountability, good governance is dead and bad governance reigns.
Participation and accountability are important legitimizing tools that strengthen decision making institutions and enhance their effectiveness. They are the two sides of the same coin.
Participation allows many voices to be heard and different ideas to influence decision making while accountability ensures that power and resources are used in the interest of the people.
To ensure accountability, people should be allowed to participate in governance. Ghana's experience in participation and accountability is demonstrated in the establishment of local government systems in the form of the Assemblies, Councils and Committees which give power to the people and leaves room for accountability as well.
Mikkelsen defines participation and participatory as voluntary contributions by people in development activities; sensitization of people to increase receptivity to development interventions; an active process where a group of people take initiatives; fostering of dialogue between stakeholders, between those with more and less decision making power; and voluntary involvement of people in self ?determined change.
In the instance of chiefs and traditional rulers' participation in local government stakeholders say different things. Stakeholders have eloquently argued that Chiefs should be kept out of direct participation in District Assembly (DA) business if the DA is to be saved from political paralysis arising from chieftaincy conflicts.
It has also been contended that a chief is a father of the people and should stay out of both national and local politics to maintain their neutrality, dignity and huge respect they enjoy in Ghanaian society.
Women groups have also contended that the participation of women in most DA is very low as there are many Assemblies with virtually no elected Assembly women. Women DCEs are few and far between while most Regional Coordinating Councils have become no-go areas for women. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has not been added to the list of decentralized units. Women groups are also arguing that the 30 per cent representation of women in all decision making institutions advocated in the Women's manifesto has been quietly shunted aside.
The youth and students in communities are seen by some as immature, not responsible. However, while there has been an agreement that the youth are the physically strong and the most exuberant section of the population, little or no attempt has been made to actively involve them in local government. Assemblies can engage the services of students in disciplines like Agriculture, engineering and other technical skills during vacation. In effect, the huge potential of the youth, the most virile sections of the population remain untapped by the various assemblies.
Since the elderly are the most skilled and professional, it will do Assemblies a lot of good to tap their expertise. These professionals are in the position to advice, train, counsel and encourage Assemblies in their development activities. Ignoring this vital resource could only have negative impact on the development of the areas of jurisdiction of the Assemblies.
In 2008, the passage of the Disability Act and the subsequent establishment of the Disability Council raised among People With Disabilities, (PWDs). This was a window of hope where PWDs could now access support for improved livelihoods. Yet PWDs are still faced with countless acts of discrimination in Ghana.
Many MMDAs have not implemented the policy of setting aside 5 percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund for the disabled. Some Assemblies have resorted to the practice of applying the fund for their own purposes without consultation with PWDs. PWDs are also not engaged on the NYEP and MMDAs have not developed sporting facilities for PWDs.
Most MMDAs Special Education Programmes focus only on the visually impaired whilst all the other PWDs are neglected. The Social Investment Fund, Rural Enterprise Fund and Community Based Rural Development Programme did not involve PWDS.
The NHIS has not given any special considerations to PWDs. Public buildings are not easily accessible to PWDs. These acts of discrimination have become common because PWDs are neither represented in the Assemblies nor in the District Planning Coordinating Units.
The obstacles to participation and accountability among the citizenry are enormous. Notable among them is the inappropriate mode of representation.
The current form of representation is territorial with Assembly members and Unit Committee members representing people living within a specific territory, electoral area, etc. the outcome has been less than satisfactory. Most rural District Assemblies comprise of teachers and farmers who sometimes constitute more than 66.0 percent of Assembly members.
At the same time chiefs, women, youth, PWDs, businessmen, contractors, CSOs who play equally important roles complain of exclusions.
To solve this problem, there is the need to recognize that territorial representation has not served the decentralized Units well. A new hybrid form has now been proposed which combines the present territorial representation with functional and interest representations and will bring within the DA system a much wider variety of interests.
The lack of political will on the part of powerful bureaucrats at the national and districts levels is restricting participation in local government. The powerful bureaucratic elite who have from time immemorial exercised powers and functions to be transferred to district level are not willing to pass these functions and powers onto sub-district structures or even share information and functions with CSOs. This has resulted in widespread complaints of lack of consultation and information.
The high political barriers that cultural beliefs and lack of political will have erected around political participation can only be shattered by civic education which stresses the right of citizens to participate in the making of decisions that affects their lives. At the same time citizens should know that a decentralized administration is a national constitutional choice which must be respected and implemented to the full.
Low remuneration and unfavorable socio economic conditions in most rural districts have combined to render working for Assemblies unattractive for many qualified people. Assemblies and their sub-district structures therefore suffer from acute shortage of trained human resource. The many complaints about Assemblies and their dysfunctional sub-structures could be attributed to their human resource handicap. In the end participation at all levels suffers.
The prospects of accountability and participation are enormous and contrary to popular opinion, politicians and citizens need to understand that participation and accountability have promise of the success and progress of individual, collective and the nation. It yields fulfillment and dignifying development for the people.
*This feature was compiled from lectures delivered by Kwesi Jonah and Dr. Atia Apusigah, at the National Stakeholder Conference on Decentralisation on the 20th of January, 2010.
Source: Public Agenda