Appointing MMDCEs is not good for our democracy – Prof. Atsu Aryee

Professor of Political Science at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Joseph Atsu Ayee, has called for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to propel Ghana’s development agenda including all Assemble Members.

According to him, the current practice of the President nominating MMDCEs and appointing some of the Assemble Members has never helped to eliminate the partisan nature of the Assembly as envisaged by the 1992 constitution because the “local bureaucracy, the decentralized department, some of them are not fully integrated due to our geopolitics”.

He said partisan politics is so pervasive to the extent that “even some of our bureaucrats also engage in some politics,” noting that, “electing MMDCEs without political parties will be more dangerous than electing them on party lines”.

He made this known when he delivered a public lecture on the 4th Nathan Anang Quao Annual Lecture and Awards, 2021 on the theme:  “neutrality in local Governance, the nonpartisan election of MMDCEs”. It was organized by the Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG) in Accra on September 30, 2021

He said there were arguments to the effect that, MMDCEs who are not from the governing party will sabotage efforts by the President because he will not have the power to remove non-performing MMDECs.

The Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe Addo, on his part cautioned civil servants who double as assemblymen/women to resign in line with a ruling of the Supreme Court banning them from contesting in such positions; “it comes to our notice that Government is appointing civil servants to the Assemblies, this is contempt of the Supreme Court ruling”.

He congratulated all award winners saying “in as much as it takes the perfection of the Civil Service to move the country forward and not the politicians, ascribed to the late Nathan Anang Quao, CLOGSAG continues to sponsor the annual event in order to sustain the idea of perfection in the Civil Service as well as the Local Government Service.

Head of Local Government Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, made the point that the mandate of the Services will remain paramount as “we continue as a nation to discuss the issue of election of MMDCEs”.

“MMDCEs will require the effective performance of the Civil and Local Government Services to support them deliver on the mandate of their Assemblies”,

The interface between the public and local governance for public services will continue to be with the civil and local government service organizations, he added.

He, however, urged CLOGSAG, to stand bold and tall in upholding the principles of political neutrality by remaining focused, professional and accountable in the delivery of its mandate without taking sides at any point in time.

“Our Code of conduct as public service staff must always guide our work output,” he stressed.

The Nathan Anang Quao Awards was instituted in 2017 by the Civil and Local Government Staff Association (CLOGSAG) for both staffs in active service and on retirement within the Civil Service and the Local Government Service.

Its main objective is to motivate the staff within the services to strive for Integrity, Excellence, Professionalism, Transparency, and that Loyalty in anonymity pays.

Among the dignitaries at the event was Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, MP for Odododiodioo Constituency, and the Ranking Member on Local Government Committee in Parliament.

By Edzorna Francis Mensah