” IT IS TIME TO GIVE POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE” – Nduom – Full Statement

“AGENDA FOR CHANGE: IT IS TIME TO GIVE POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE” Statement presented by Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom on November 24, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media:

Introduction

Thank you for accepting my invitation once again as we continue to pursue the Agenda for Change. I appreciate the effort you have put in to attend this press conference. I wish to thank you for the broad coverage your television and radio stations and newspapers gave to the matter addressed the last time we were together – which was on strengthening the legislature, Parliament.

At the Press Conference on October 27th I indicated my wish to begin a series of interactions focused on the Agenda for Change. I said that I was launching an initiative that I hoped would encourage Ghanaians from all walks of life to be interested in promoting the implementation of fundamental change in our society so that our people can live a better life than they are experiencing now. I also announced my intention to collaborate with other forward looking individuals and organizations to ensure that this effort is sustained. This once again is not about a political contest. It is an initiative to promote the Ghanaian interest.

I have been pleased by what I have heard from other people since then. Mr. Appiah-Menka, an elder of the NPP was featured in the Daily Graphic newspaper as saying that Parliament “…cannot bite” due to deficiencies in our Constitution. The Mirror has also recently reported the Minister of Trade & Industries, Hon. Hannah Tetteh as saying that she decided not to go back to Parliament because it had become more or less a tool to do the bidding of the Executive. Indeed she was reported to have said that her deputy at the Ministry is a Member of Parliament and this consequently puts pressure on her to do more work than expected. The Executive Director of the CDD Prof. Gyimah-Boadi has also recently been reported by the Daily Dispatch as saying that the current Constitution does not allow Parliament sufficient powers to carry out its responsibilities. There is no question in my mind that change is in the air. We just need to continue to press for it until it arrives. It is my hope that other voices will be lifted up to advocate for change that will strengthen our legislature and other areas of life in our dear country.

Background
I wish to note that the topic that I am addressing today is one that I am quite familiar with. The positions I am taking today are not new. I have not only made them known publicly over the years, I have had the opportunity to work them into government policy. I believe that I am qualified to speak on this topic especially because I had the privilege and honour to serve as an elected Assembly Member representing the Akotobinsin Electoral area in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipal Assembly. An elected Assembly Member I must say is very different from those appointed by the President. It is not just that the person is elected by the people. The voters actually hold the elected Assembly Member responsible to get results they can feel locally. Appointed Assembly Members get their direction from the Appointing Authority – the President.

My experience as an elected Assembly Member convinced me about the need to remove the combined suffocating influence of the President, the Ministry of Local Development & Rural Development and Regional Minister from District Assemblies. This I became sure would ensure concentration on development according to the needs of the local people.

The Kufuor Administration and Election of District Functionaries
I served as Minister of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation and Chairman of the National Development Planning Committee during which term I had the opportunity to lead in the preparation of what was called “An Agenda for Growth And Prosperity” and known to many as the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) (2003 – 2005).

The NPP came to power in 2001 and promised to work to accelerate decentralization including taking steps to ensure the election of District Functionaries.
The medium term plan approved by the cabinet of the NPP Administration led by former President J. A. Kufuor included the following promise on page 135:

“The constitutional provisions require District Chief Executives and up to thirty percent of the Assembly Members to be appointed by the President. District Assemblies have been in place now for thirteen years. Consideration needs to be given to the desirability of having Assembly Members, including the District Chief Executive elected in the interest of the democratic process. The process of changing the Constitution to get District functionaries elected will be initiated by 2004.”

I had hoped that the frustrations I had experienced as an Assembly Member finally would be taken care of. Unfortunately, the Kufuor Administration was not able to follow through on the promise made in GPRS 1. Politics triumphed over the need to give people responsibility for their own destiny and development.

I did not give up. As Minister for Public Sector Reform, I worked to make decentralisation one of the priority areas included in the Comprehensive Work Programme for Public Sector Reform that was launched by former President John Agyekum Kufuor in March 2006. We should note here that every government since independence has committed itself one way or the other to some form of decentralization. Successive governments have affirmed the need for the administration of government to be closer to “the people” and for there to be some way for an expression of choice in who manages political administration at the local level.

The Kufuor Administration proposed a number of ways to keep the decentralization agenda an active one. New legislation was introduced and passed to give legal backing to the movement of some parts of government machinery from the center to the districts and municipalities.
It was obvious to me that what was needed was a firm commitment to the implementation of the decentralization agenda approved by Government. The Administration suffered from unclear assignment of roles and responsibilities for the implementation of decentralization within government administration. The international development partners from time to time adopted their own decentralization programmes and projects and worked with a variety of government and non governmental agencies in a way that sometimes weakened the resolve to implement difficult reforms.

The Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development has responsibility for policy and planning related to and the supervision of district and municipal assemblies. The Ministry is a decision-maker and an implementer of decentralization reform. The Local Government Service by law working under the supervision of the Local Government Council has responsibility for managing the decentralized human resources. The task of bringing all parties together so that roles and responsibilities and resources can be shifted from the center to regional and district/municipal levels rests with the President of the Republic. My experience as an elected Assembly Member and a Minister of State has taught me that the change that is required to empower the district administrations to must be a priority on the agenda of the President.

The Problem as Documented in the 1992 Constitution
In my opinion, the problem of empowering the people at the local level has persisted because the Constitution we are working with took a big part of that power and gave it to the President. Article 240 (1) of the Constitution says that “Ghana shall have a system of local government which shall, as far as practicable, be decentralized”.
It is Article 240 that gives authority to Parliament to enact appropriate laws “… to ensure that functions, powers, responsibilities and resources are at all times transferred from the Central Government to local government units in a co-ordinated manner”. But Parliament’s ability to bring about full decentralization is hampered by the Constitution.

The most offending parts of the Constitution in terms of usurping the powers of the people are the following:

1. Article 242 “A District Assembly shall consist of the following members:
(a) One person from each local government electoral area within the district elected by universal adult suffrage;
(b) The member or members of Parliament from the constituencies that fall within the area of authority of the District Assembly as members without the right to vote;
(c) The District Chief Executive of the district; and
(d) Other members not being more than thirty per cent of all the members of the District Assembly, appointed by the President in consultation with the traditional authorities and other interest groups in the district.”

2. I am also referring to Article 243 which also reads,
“243 (1) There shall be a District Chief Executive for every district who shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of not less than two-thirds majority of members of the Assembly present and voting at the meeting.”

3. Then there is Article 243 (3) which says that
“The office of District Chief Executive shall become vacant if:
(a) A vote of no confidence, supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the District Assembly is passed against him; or
(b) He is removed from office by the President; or
(c) He resigns or dies. “

In addition, Article 248 (1) reads: “A candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit shall present himself to the electorate as an individual, and shall not use any symbol associated with any political party.” And then, Article (2) reads: “A political party shall not endorse, sponsor offer a platform to or in any way campaign for or against a candidate seeking election to a District Assembly or any lower local government unit.”

My question is, who do we think we are fooling? In our District Assemblies we know which members were supported by which political party to get elected. The political parties are busily preparing themselves for the next local elections, recruiting candidates and sponsoring them. We must review all of these provisions embedded in our Constitution, understand the realities on the ground and empower the people to freely associate with those they agree with and to vote for those who want to rule them.

Campaign Promises in 2008
In 2008, the Presidential Candidates talked about changing the Constitution to empower Parliament, bringing more power to the District Assemblies by accelerating the decentralization program, ensuring the industrialization of the country, overhauling the system we use to educate our children and so on. I remember specifically the Presidential debate held in Tamale where all the Presidential Candidates including the current President Mills agreed on the need for a review of the Constitution to ensure full decentralization including the election of District Chief Executives. It is clear then, that our politicians do know that our people favour the idea of voting directly to elect those who rule them at the local level. The politicians know what to say to get the votes but when the get there, they pretend they know better than the people who put them there.

Arguments Against Full Decentralisation
A number of arguments have been made against the type of full decentralization that puts power directly in the hands of the people by allowing them to vote for those who govern them and make laws at the local level.
A number of times I have heard people who are against the election of DCEs and Assembly Members by the voters ask why they should give up power when they earned it during the general election. So for some it is about holding power at the center and doing with it what supports their partisan interests. It is political and not about seeking the interest of the people or promoting their prosperity.

There are some who believe that Ghanaians are not “mature” enough to elect their DCEs. To them I say, if Ghanaians are mature enough to elect a President and their Members of Parliament, then they are mature enough to elect their DCEs and Assembly Members. Others cite the security of the President as the reason why they cannot see how an NDC member can become the DCE for Keta while the President is an NPP member or how an NPP member can become the Mayor of Kumasi while the President is an NDC member. The fact is that we have a whole National Security organization and other arms of central government to secure the safety of our President. In my view such arguments belittle the intelligence of Ghanaians.

Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi is someone who I believe is one of the smartest and intelligent Ghanaians around. He is a lawyer, politician, former Cabinet Minister in the NDC1 Administration and an accomplished teacher at the tertiary level. I respect him. However, I disagree with him about his views on this matter. He was reported last week to have used the violent disagreements between former President J. J. Rawlings and his Vice President, the late Kow Nkensen Arkaah to show that we are not ready to have people serve in government at different levels who come from different political parties. If this report is accurate, then it is quite unfortunate. Perhaps he needs to go and seek the mandate of the people at the local level and sit in an Assembly where appointed representatives of the President ride roughly over him and others. I am sure he will then quickly see the light.

Interestingly enough, the rejection of the late President Limann’s budget by members of his own party in Parliament was used as a reason to require a majority of Ministers of State to be appointed from Parliament by the 1992 Constitution.
This was designed to make it easier for the President to have his way with Parliament! This “making it easier” for the Presidency to work, has made it possible for the Executive to become all too powerful to the detriment of local development. We have created a powerful father at the center around whom the country revolves for better or worse and without any effective check and balances The one person, the President appoints all Ministers of State, most of the members of the Council of State, the Members of Governing Bodies or Board of Directors of all state institutions, the Regional Ministers, District Chief Executive, one-third of all Assemblies and so many others.

The long hands of the Presidency have reached so low to such an extent that members of local pre-mix fuel committees, school feeding program contractors and even public toilet attendants claim their authorities from the President of the Republic! You will agree with me that it is time for change to give power back to the people.

What are some of the Negative Effects of the Current Situation?
The NDC 1 Administration held on to appointing DCEs thinking that it would be a tool to be used to consolidate its hold on the Presidency. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development was considered the most powerful political center. Yet that party lost power. The NPP 1 Administration also held on to appointing DCEs with the hope that it would help build political strength. They also lost power. So the idea that controlling the DCEs and the Assemblies actually strengthen a party’s hold on the Presidency has been proven to be false.

It does not work in part because the power of appointment at the local level is abused by the center. The party in power uses this power to reward its people and not to seek the welfare of the Districts. So you find failed Parliamentary Candidates, Party executives at the Assemblies as Chief Executives and Assembly Members. The appointed Members, get together to push through their person to become the Presiding Member. They also ensure that their people chair the sub-Committees of the Assemblies so that they control the important Executive Committees.

Interestingly enough, the idea of controlling the Assemblies from Accra is merely a mirage. In practice, the Presidency has no effective control over the Assemblies. The DCEs and their collaborating Assembly Members know this. They understand that as long as they make the necessary noises about supporting the party and the President to win re-election, they are safe, left alone without effective supervision. No President can have enough eyes to oversee the activities of the more than 130 District Assemblies. Some DCEs terrorize the people with the control they have over the District Security Council. They threaten to arrest people who disagree with them and use the President’s name to put fear into their opponents. They think that as long as the President is happy with them, they are safe. But the people are not fools. Many times, it is these same DCEs and their highhandedness that cause dissatisfaction for their Presidents and their parties.

In the end, DCEs want to have their own mandate from the people so they fight with MPs even from their own political parties to go to Parliament where the President cannot sack them.

But that is the political part.

The important drawback of the system of appointing those who end up controlling the Assemblies and the Districts is that it ends up slowing down development. Because they are not voted for by the people, they tend to look up to Accra and wait for instructions, approval, central government priorities and funds. The Districts have assumed the character of Central Government waiting for donors and development partners to come and save them from themselves.

One critical drawback is the mismanagement of the finances of the Assemblies. Due to the lack of effective oversight on the part of the Presidency, some DCEs and their collaborators misuse funds put at their disposal. They have come to emulate the bad examples set in Accra of accumulating debts they cannot service. That is why the current Minister of Finance & Economic Planning could complain to Parliament last week about the huge arrears left by some DCEs in the previous administration.
But the sad part is that this has happened under the watch of both NDC 1 and NPP 1 Administrations. I interviewed some former DCEs in preparing for this meeting with the media and they were all unanimous in citing pressures from Accra as a leading cause for the mismanagement of the finances of the Districts. They claimed that various deductions are made from the Common Fund for items that tend not to match local priorities. What is due from the Common Fund is always received late sometimes one or two quarters late which then tempts some of them to ask contractors to pre-finance projects adding unnecessary cost burdens on the Assemblies.

So the net effect of all of this is that we have not been able to accelerate development in our communities – our towns and villages are looking to Accra for funds to trickle down that they can use for development.

Conclusion
I am convinced that the current system of local government is largely ineffective and does not promote development because of the flaws in the 1992 Constitution. These flaws give the President power to appoint and dismiss District Functionaries. I believe that the people of Ghana want the right to elect those who rule them and make laws in their localities to gain their eyes, ears and minds. The people want the right to use the ballot box to select and sack those who are supposed to serve them. This right must be given by amending the relevant sections of the Constitution to give the power back to the people. If the people are smart and discerning enough to cast a ballot to elect a Member of Parliament and a President, they are definitely smart and discerning enough to cast a ballot to elect a District Chief Executive and Assembly Members.

The two political parties – NDC and NPP – who have held political power in Ghana since 1993 go through the motions about decentralization, promise to strengthen the rights of the people during campaigns to win votes, then choose to hang on to local authorities in order to control the people when in power.

The CPP’s Manifesto for the 2008 elections was very clear about the Party’s Legislative Agenda. The CPP was very specific about its commitment to expedite the review of existing laws and the passage of others to facilitate the implementation of our development agenda. Among laws whose passage would have been expedited had the CPP won the 2008 elections is the one to elect all local officials (page 68; CPP 2008 Manifesto).

The Mills-led NDC 2 Administration is going through the motions and spending considerable resources to seek consensus on what to do to ensure effective decentralization. But when you listen to power brokers and decision-makers in the Administration, it is clear that they do not want to give the people the right to vote directly for their local officials. They preach “go slow”. They claim the people are not ready. This sounds strangely like those who prior to our independence on 6th March 1957 said our people were not ready and that independence in the shortest possible time would be good enough.

I am calling on the people of Ghana to demand the right to vote for their DCEs and Assembly Members now, not later.

Thank you for your attention. God Bless our Homeland Ghana.