Local governance expert Professor Kwamena Ahwoi has raised concerns about Ghana’s expanding number of districts and regions, arguing that the country has far exceeded what is necessary for effective governance.
Speaking at the National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance in Accra last Friday, Prof. Ahwoi said the proliferation of administrative areas had become counterproductive and should be reconsidered.
“It is my view that we have already exceeded the optimum number of regions and districts that the country needs,” he stated.
Delivering his keynote under the theme “Using the Past to Inform the Future: Resetting Decentralisation for Responsive Local Governance and Effective Service Delivery: Political, Administrative and Economic Development Imperatives,” Prof. Ahwoi reflected on how Ghana functioned effectively with fewer regions in earlier years.
“For a period of over 50 years, the country survived with a maximum of 10 regions. Creating six more regions in only two years (2018 to 2019) was definitely an overreach with no tangible benefits to show for it,” he argued.
The former Local Government Minister also accused successive governments of ignoring legal provisions governing the creation of districts, pointing to political motivations rather than developmental needs.
“It is obvious that our Presidents have not kept faith with the population threshold required for the creation of districts as contained in the Local Government Act of 1993 (Act 462) and the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936); and have only created those districts for purely partisan political reasons,” Prof. Ahwoi said.
He reminded assembly members of their constitutional powers to hold Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) accountable, stressing that they are not powerless.
“The assembly members have the power under the Local Government Act to pass a vote of no confidence in the chief executive of their MMDA by a two-thirds majority,” he explained. “For assembly members, people in the electoral area can actually initiate processes for their removal from office and get the Electoral Commission to conduct fresh elections.”
Prof. Ahwoi concluded by stressing that Ghana’s decentralisation policy must be reset to focus on responsive local governance, effective service delivery, and accountability rather than political expediency.
