The election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and the involvement of indigenes and chiefs in the management of the natural resources of the country are some of the recurrent issues being proposed for amendment in the constitution.

They are also of the view that the election of MMDCEs would deepen local accountability and participation.

So far, these issues have topped most of the discussions at the three of the zonal stakeholders’ meetings held by the Constitution Review Committee (CRC).

These came to light when the committee held its Upper West Zonal Stakeholders meeting in Wa last Monday to collate views from the public for consideration. The committee has been to Bolgatanga, Tamale and was in Wa on Monday as part of its stakeholder engagement on the constitutional review.

Erosion of powers

Some of the speakers expressed the fear that if the elections were held on partisan basis, there could be friction between the President and MMDCEs that could affect development at the local level.

While traditional leaders also supported the election of DCEs, they, however, expressed the fear that this could erode the powers that chiefs wielded in their traditional areas.

The Chief of Pulima, Kuoro Osman Deiwia Nankpa, agreed that DCEs should be elected but expressed the fear that they would be so powerful that some of them may disrespect the authority of chiefs since they both derived their legitimacy from the people.

He, however, proposed that it should not be partisan and should be held concurrently with the presidential and parliamentary elections to save cost.

Summons

The chiefs further asked that powers of chiefs to summon their subjects be restored to give chiefs more powers to maintain sanity in their communities and also to resolve family disputes.

“We are of the strong opinion that for local governance and traditional administration to be strengthened, chiefs should have the privilege to summon our subjects on issues of civil cases such as lands, marriage, disputes, family disagreements and inheritance,” he said.

The chiefs also proposed that a percentage of the District Assembly Common Fund be allocated to them for projects in their traditional areas “where they have direct supervisory roles and privilege to choose where and what goes to which community that needs it more.”

The Chairman of the committee, Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh said the public engagements were to solicit the thoughts and perspectives of the general public on the governance of the country and to assist the committee to achieve its mandate which is “to review the Constitution of Ghana, taking into account the previous work done by the Constitution Review Commission in 2010.”

He said while the majority of the people agreed that MMDCEs should be elected, there was, however, no clear indication on the modality whether it should be on partisan or on non-partisan basis.

Prof. Prempeh, however, said that could be cured through the provision of the powers and mandate of the MMDCE in the said provision to ensure that there would not be any conflict between the MMDCE and the party in power.

The Upper West Regional Minister Charles Lwanga Puozing, also called for an entrenched position for equitable resource allocation to all 16 regions “especially those in the north to bridge long-standing development gaps.”