The Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, Professor Nicholas Awortwi, said the two main political parties - New Patriotic Party  (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) - ­­have indicated in their manifestos to pursue such a policy when given the mandate in the December 7 elections this year.

He said such initiative should be spearheaded by civil society organisations, Members of Parliament, the citizens and the media.

He said the education should start early next year so that by the next local government elections in the country in 2026, the election of the MMDCEs could happen alongside that of the assembly and unit committee members and subsequently every four years.

Prof.  Awortwi said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic. He was analysing the manifestos of the NPP and the NDC in relation to decentralisation and local governance.

2019 referendum

Making reference to the failed referendum in 2019 to change the constitution to allow MMDCEs to be elected, he said if the citizenry had been well-educated on the subject, the opposition that the issue generated would not have occurred.

“Which means that if we have had education or we had sensitised the people to the importance of political parties participation in local government election including that of MMDCEs, the results would have been different,” he said.

Describing the manifestos of the two political parties on decentralisation as promising, he said the election of MMDCEs had been on the past three manifestos of both parties but they have never been able to implement it, adding that this time around the political will to implement it would be there.

Manifestos

Delving into details of what both political parties have stated in their manifestos regarding the election of MMDCEs, Prof. Awortwi said on page 130 of the NPP manifesto, they said they wanted to revisit the process they started in 2019 to get MMDCEs elected.

However, he explained, unlike their 2020 manifesto that they were categorical that it would be through political party lines, the 2024 manifesto stated that they would do further consultations, meaning the results of the consultation would determine the approach the party would take in the election of MMDCEs - whether through partisan system or non-partisan one.

For the NDC, he said, Session 631 on strengthening local governance of the party’s manifesto captured their position on the election of the MMDCEs.

In that session, he said, the NDC indicated that they would increase, strengthen local-level participation and political accountability through the election of MMDCEs on a non-partisan basis, which agrees with their earlier stand in 2019 that they would not permit political parties to participate in local government elections.

He said the inability to implement what the two political parties have said on the election of MMDCEs was because  perhaps some people gained from the status quo.

“Once they come to power, they realise that, no, we need to find jobs for many of their party people. Remember, party foot soldiers and those who fail to get party nomination as members of parliament, are compensated with the appointment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives,” he said.