Enhancing grassroot participation in local governance; The role of Sub- District structures (Area and Urban Councils) in Wa Municipality and Wa District of the Upper West Region East

In Ghana, the Assembly system of local governance was introduced in 1988 with the passage of the local Government Law, PNDCL 207. This brought into being local authorities known as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) with legislating, executing, budgeting, planning and rating powers. One of the key strengths of any decentralization policy is for power to be devolved to governance structures closer to the people. Sub-district structures and administrative structures such as town and area councils, and Unit Committees which have been established by law as lower tiers of administrative and political decision making in the districts are important elements in the decentralized system of local governance in Ghana that promote grassroots participation. Their major function is to galvanize local action and channel local energies into productive and developmental activities. They provide vital links between the Districts Assemblies and local people in support of the development agenda of communities. However, sub district structures in Ghana are very much incapacitated to perform their statutory functions. They do not really know what their roles are and do not have the required human resources to function effectively due to absence of financial and material incentives Gyimah et al (2008). It is against this backdrop that the research was carried out to examine the extent to which grassroots participation at the sub-district enhance local governance process in the Wa Municipality and Wa East District of the upper west region. Structured interview guide, checklist, and questionnaire were some of the instruments the researcher used in the study, while the survey method involved focus group discussion (FGD). Both random and purposive sampling approaches to primary data collection were adopted. In all, 462 were involved, comprising 280 Unit Committee members, 56 elected Assembly members, 20 chiefs, 4 staff of Non Governmental Organizations, 56 Youth leaders (FGD), 40 members of Area/Zonal council members and 6 staff of MMDAs iv Part of the data gathered was analyzed with the use of Statistical Programme for Social Science (SPSS). The study revealed that forms of participation in decision-making process in local governance such as, Political decision-making, Project identification, Planning, Project implementation, Monitoring and evaluation, Dispute resolution, Resource mobilisation, Social activities, Project sustainability and Environmental protection were to a large extent disregarded by MDA staff. Meanwhile, resource mobilization and Dispute resolution were the only outstanding area of decision making that involved development actors. Recommendations were made as a means of solving some of the emerging challenges confronting grassroot participation in local governance. These include provision of logistics, provision of financial assistance, Educational levels, roles and lack of understanding of the decision making process, cordial relationship and effective information flow among Development Actors, promotion of youth participation in local governance and finally promotion of women participation in local governance.

Source: KNUST