Dr. Richard Fiadomor, the President of the Chamber of Local Governance, has rekindled the debate on the necessity of electing MMDCEs (Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives) by arguing that more autonomy is necessary to guarantee the efficacy and efficiency of different assemblies.
Dr. Fiadomor argues that elections are unnecessary since political and governmental personalities meddle in the MMDCE election and removal procedures.
Dr. Fiadomor highlighted the necessity of autonomous assemblies in an interview on Citi FM’s Citi Breakfast Show to have an effective governance structure.
In his explanation, he said, “It is expected that assembly members and unit committee members would have concluded with an independent and true endorsement without political involvement, but that is not the issue here. After all, they are the ones who ultimately end up endorsing the president’s nominees.”
With a proposal to amend both Article 243 (1) and Article 55 (3) of the Constitution to allow political parties to run in local elections, the Akufo-Addo administration started democratizing the process of choosing local government leaders in 2019.
Unfortunately, due to the absence of bipartisan support for the referendum to change Article 55(3), the proposal came to a standstill, forcing the President to revoke the amendments.
While the 1992 Constitution’s Article 55(3) authorizes the holding of political party elections, it leaves out the election of district, municipal, and metropolitan chief executives.
Dr. Fiadomor expressed his regret about the seeming marginalization of residents within the local government consultative framework.
“We take our role as stakeholders very seriously, and it is a pity that so many assemblies fail to interact with the public. You have a part to perform, but we are unable to fulfill it in the assembly.”
