Accra: The Local Governance Network (LOGNet), a civil society advocacy coalition, has rejected the proposed model for the election of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), describing it as a 'pseudo-reform' that retains executive control over local governance.
According to Ghana News Agency, the proposal allows the President to nominate five candidates to be vetted, after which three are presented to constituents for election. LOGNet argues that this method fails to deliver genuine political decentralization and denies citizens the full right to elect their local leaders.
The statement further contends that the proposal merely replaces the current system of presidential nomination with a 'pre-filtered' process that continues to restrict democratic choice and executive influence over local governance. LOGNet emphasizes that available evidence from governance studies shows that the majority of Ghanaians support the direct election of MMDCEs without presidential pre-selection.
LOGNet cites findings from Afrobarometer, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), and recent local governance research, all of which consistently indicate strong public support for direct, non-partisan elections and greater accountability of local leaders to residents rather than the central government.
The Network asserts that the proposed model would preserve central executive control, weaken downward accountability, and undermine inclusive participation by preventing qualified citizens from freely contesting local leadership positions. It maintains that if candidates depend on presidential nomination to appear on the ballot, their allegiance would remain with the appointing authority instead of the communities they are expected to serve.
LOGNet calls for complete political decentralization through an open, transparent, and non-partisan local election process that would allow citizens to directly nominate, elect, and hold MMDCEs accountable. The Network urges civil society organizations, think tanks, the media, and grassroots groups to oppose any legislation that retains executive control over local government and to advocate reforms that vest the power to choose local leaders entirely in the electorate.
The Network declares, "Decentralization without total popular mandate is merely central control by another name," adding that Ghanaians deserve the absolute power to choose their leaders without presidential pre-selection.