Accra: Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, has expressed the government's unrelenting commitment to placing decentralisation at the heart of national development and accountable governance. She emphasized the urgent need to complete administrative and functional devolution in critical sectors such as Health, Education, and Roads.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Vice-President was speaking at the maiden meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralisation in Accra. The meeting brought together Ministers, Institutional Heads, and key stakeholders mandated under the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) to steer the country's decentralisation reforms. The meeting deliberated on the reactivation and operationalisation of the IMCC as the highest national platform for inter-ministerial coordination of decentralisation, as well as the consideration and endorsement of the National Decentralisation Policy and Strategy (2026-2030).
The policy outlines reforms across thematic areas: Political, Administrative, Fiscal Planning; Local Economic Development; and Popular Participation and Accountability. It also discussed policy direction on critical coordination matters, including predictable financing for the IMCC Secretariat, sectoral alignment, and legislative reforms. The Vice-President noted that the credibility of Ghana's decentralisation programme depends on progress in these areas.
The Vice President called on all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, especially the Ministry of Finance, to champion the implementation of decentralisation reforms within their mandates. She said a coherent and purposeful Government stance was vital for attracting Development Partner support and to ensure that funds follow functions. The meeting featured presentations on the NDPS, Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Economic Development, and ongoing legislative reforms, as well as discussions on ministerial realignment for effective local governance.
The IMCC agreed to focus on the Decentralisation of the Education, Health, and Road Sectors and to ensure that they are achieved within the first year of the NDPS plan period. In the view of the Committee, decentralisation must benefit the people of Ghana; therefore, it remained committed to ensuring that decentralisation becomes a catalyst for improved service delivery, local democracy, and inclusive national development.
Members of the IMCC present at the meeting included Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister for Education, Mr. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister for Health, and Mr. Eric Opoku, the Minister for Food and Agriculture. Other notable attendees were Madam Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Prof. Lord Mensah, the Head of the Local Government Service, Dr. Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, the Head of the Civil Service, and Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, the Chairperson of the National Development Planning Commission.