Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development on Tuesday emphasized that the provision of basic services and infrastructure was a shared responsibility between the central government and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
He reiterated the fact that local authorities are important and integral part of the public sector as they have significant responsibility in the delivery of basic services as such primary education, basic healthcare, water and sanitation.
A statement issued by Mr D.A. Nyankamawu, Chief Director after the Minister had returned with a three-member team from a 5th Commonwealth Local Government conference in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island organized by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF).
It was attended by 550 representatives from 48 countries.
The purpose of the conference was to discuss issues affecting local governance and local government administration under the theme: "Improving Local Government: The Commonwealth Vision".
Mr Yieleh Chireh said capacity building initiatives for local authorities were crucial in promoting efficient service delivery at the community level.
The Minister was appointed a co-opted Board Member of the CLGF and will be expected to participate in the CLGF Board meeting in Trinidad and Tobago later this year.
The board meeting will be expected to make follow-up discussions on the Freeport Declaration which include reshaping and repositioning local governments to overcome capacity constraints, making local government models dynamic to fit into different environments and shifting towards developmental models of local government that focused on what needs to be done rather than emphasizing on systems and structures.
The rest are consolidating and re-enforcing local governments at this time of world economic down turn and resource constraints, improving financial base of local governments and improving local service delivery to meet the needs of the whole community among others.
The statement concluded that the Minister was hopeful to put appropriate strategies in place to adopt some of these measures to improve operations of MMDAs in Ghana.