Dr. Richard Abankwa Agyapong, a local government expert, says it is prudent to address the existing struggles of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) before creating or elevating them.
He emphasized the need for the government to tackle the existing problems, raising issues of inadequate staffing, poor infrastructure, and lack of resources which is currently making more assemblies struggle to deliver basic services.
He cited inadequate funding, insufficient personnel, and outdated equipment as major challenges hindering the effectiveness of existing assemblies.
“The government must demonstrate its commitment to strengthening local governance by addressing these challenges,” he added.
Additionally, he expressed concerns about the potential duplication of administrative costs and the strain on already limited resources. He said creating new assemblies without addressing existing challenges will only exacerbate the problems.
Dr Abankwa-Agyapong said existing assemblies already provided similar services, therefore, creating more will lead to unnecessary duplication. Also, Ghana’s financial constraints make it challenging to support additional administrative units.
Ghana’s public sector wage bill already consumes 60% of total government revenue. Administrative costs account for 24.6% of total public expenditure. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 73%, limiting fiscal space.
He agreed with the idea of creating and elevating MMDAs to bring the government closer to the people, but added that “Creating more administrative units will increase expenditure on staffing, infrastructure, and operations. This will divert resources from essential public services, such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development”.
He therefore recommended the strengthening of existing assemblies through capacity building and resource allocation, as well as explore alternative governance models, such as merged or shared services to address challenges at the local level.
