Rethinking Ghana’s Decentralization: Citizens’ Views on the Question of Electing or Appointing a District Political Head

Abstract

Decentralization, as a policy option, has been on Ghana’s political agenda since independence. At the heart of Ghana’s current decentralization are the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) who serve as the principal representatives of the President at the local level. This study explores the preferred institutional arrangements for selecting MMDCEs that will make Ghana’s decentralization process more effective and responsive to local needs. The study is designed as a representative nationwide sample survey in which 2104 randomly-selected adults of voting age were the subjects. The quantitative data was complemented with 20 elite interviews. The majority of respondents (74%) asserted that MMDCEs should be popularly elected as opposed to the current arrangement where MMDCEs are appointed by the President. Interestingly, the majority of the respondents do not want the election to be on a partisan basis.