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The Executive secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCCoD), Dr Gameli Kewuribe Hoedoafia, has called for a collective national effort to ensure the successful implementation of the new Decentralisation Policy and Strategic Framework (2026-2030).
He said the policy, which reflected the aspirations and inputs of a broad range of stakeholders, would require the active participation of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), development partners, the private sector, the diaspora, civil society organisations and the media to achieve its objectives.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic on the new policy framework, Dr Hoedoafia explained that although IMCCoD would coordinate, advocate, facilitate and monitor implementation, responsibility for executing the policy measures would rest with the various institutions identified in the framework.
"We are saying that each of the ministries, departments and agencies reflected in the policy would have to budget for the aspirations and policy measures captured in it.
That way, implementation becomes an all-of-government affair, which is what decentralisation is meant to be," he said.
Dr Hoedoafia said the government would also engage development partners to support implementation, noting that such partners had historically played a key role in advancing Ghana's decentralisation agenda.
"We are appealing to them once more to come on board and help us.
Soon, we will have discussions with them on how they can support the implementation process," he said.
He further indicated that the policy framework provided opportunities for private sector participation through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements to support local governments in delivering key interventions.
According to him, the private sector could contribute significantly to local economic development initiatives by increasing investments in communities across the country.
Dr Hoedoafia said support from the Ghanaian diaspora and corporate institutions would also be explored as additional sources of financing for the implementation of the policy.
He stressed that mobilising resources from multiple stakeholders would be critical to ensuring that local governments had the capacity to deliver on the policy's objectives.
The IMCCoD Executive Secretary also underscored the importance of the media and civil society in promoting accountability and monitoring the performance of local authorities.
He urged journalists to track the implementation of policy commitments and demand explanations from local government officials on how public resources were being utilised.
"We want the media and civil society to put pressure on us and on local governments.
The policy says they should deliver specific outcomes. If more money is going into local areas, citizens must know what is being done with those resources," he said.
Dr Hoedoafia expressed confidence that stronger public scrutiny and stakeholder collaboration would contribute to the effective implementation of the policy framework.
Touching on challenges such as flooding, Dr Hoedoafia called for a more preventive and proactive approach by local authorities rather than waiting for disasters to occur before taking action.
He said district assemblies should prioritise planning and investment in interventions that addressed local challenges, including drainage and flood prevention measures.
"The policy is about local solutions to local problems.
Assemblies must identify the issues in their areas and allocate resources to address them through proper planning," he said.
Dr Hoedoafia added that the media could play an important role in highlighting local development concerns and ensuring that authorities remained responsive to the needs of communities.
