Director of Communications for the Bawumia 2024 campaign, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised Ghana’s limited commitment to full decentralisation, arguing that many of the country’s development challenges—including streetism, encroachment, and illegal structures—are rooted in an overdependence on central government. Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, May 21, Aboagye emphasized that meaningful national development can only be achieved if Ghana fully embraces decentralisation.
“Until we go full decentralised, we are not going to get to where we are staging to go. Each of the countries that we aspire to be like is fully decentralised. Their development is not anchored on the central government, but it is anchored on municipalities,” he stressed. He noted that although Ghana’s democratic architecture was designed to support strong local governance, successive governments, regardless of political party—have failed to empower district assemblies with the autonomy and resources they need.
“You do not expect that issues like streetism, building on waterways, and encroachment should be handled or even guided by the central government. It will never work. We are being hypocritical about our decentralisation. “It has nothing to do with the NDC or the NPP. The central government never wants the district assemblies to be fully functional. It is only when they are there that they want them to function.”
Aboagye’s remarks come amid heightened national discussions on urban management, local governance, and enforcement of bylaws—especially following the recent decongestion exercises in Accra. His comments underscore a growing concern that the centralisation of power continues to obstruct local development and undermines the responsiveness of district assemblies to issues within their jurisdictions.
By: Patricia Boakye
