The group made this known in a statement to congratulate the President on his election victory, as the fifth President of Ghana. The statement, signed by Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, the Acting Executive Director of CLGA, said paramount among the concerns of the CLGA has been the “ordering of decentralisation and local governance as a way of crystallising democracy and deepening participation in governance”.

He referred to the issues of Local Government and Decentralisation in the Manifesto of the New Patriotic Party,  and urged him to endeavour to realise each of them. Among the plans to ensure local governance development as stated in the Manifesto include: to oversee the direct election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives within 24 months of election into office, to coincide with the next district assembly elections in 2019; strengthen the substructures of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) through capacity building and adequate resource allocation.

The promise to local governance development also includes plans to strengthen the roles of traditional authorities within the local governance system as well as improve allowances paid to district assembly members. Also featured are plans to abolish the current practice of central government manipulation of the District Assembly Common Fund through the procurement process.

Additionally, the NPP promised to decentralise and equip the Land Valuation Board (LVB) to provide direct technical support on property valuation to MMDAs for enhanced revenue mobilisation. CLGA also tasked the government to ensure the speedy enactment of the Municipal Finance Bill, initiated by the Kufuor-led administration, into law, as promised.

The law would provide space for MMDAs to access funds from the capital market for rapid socio-economic development and partner the private sector to provide job opportunities for local people. They also want President Akufo-Addo to ensure the consolidation of all national sanitation policies, plans and programmes into a Comprehensive National Sanitation Programme and Action Plan, and establish a National Sanitation Fund to fund this.

Dr Antwi Danso, on behalf of the CLGA, ensured the new administration of “our readiness to support the full implementation of the above-promised,” as according to him, the group has developed a tracking tool to track the implementation of promises made in the manifesto.

 “We would want to assure you that the CLGA is always available as a Think Tank on Local Governance ready to offer feedback to your administration on decentralisation and local governance in Ghana,” he added.The Acting Executive Director said CLGA remained committed to advocacy for better quality and deepening and strengthening of decentralisation and local governance in Ghana.

“We will lead the charge together with other CSOs to hold political parties accountable and responsible to implement any manifesto in the areas of decentralisation and local governance,” Dr Danso said.