Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and key decision makers at the assembly level whose assemblies do not perform well on the 2019 District League Table are to be sanctioned, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, Head of Local Government Service (LGS) has hinted.
The sanction, he explained, would come in a form of delayed promotion of the key actors in the management of the districts.
On the other hand, there would be reward package for those who do well, he added.
“The essence of performance contract is reward and sanctions. So those who have done well, we are going to reward them and those who did not do well, we will sanction the key actors,” Dr Arthur told the Ghanaian Times in Accra, last Friday, on the sideline of Performance Contract Agreement signing ceremony with the 16 Regional Ministers and their Coordinating Directors (RCDs).
The Performance Contract Agreement, instituted in 2018 is a tool to measure the effectiveness of the various MMDCEs in service delivery in the areas of health, education, sanitation, amongst other areas.
The contract with the various assemblies, commits the Regional Coordinating Councils to oversee the realization of the stated goals in the agreement.
Under the auspices of the LGS, Dr Arthur said the contract was the only way the administrators of the assemblies would take their work seriously, adding that, “It shouldn’t be business as usual; Ghanaians are expecting a lot from the Local Government Service.
“The performance contract should not only be seen as a tool for assessing the performance of the RCDs, but also as a mechanism for assessing progress of general governance of the respective RCDs,” he stated.
In his view, any below average would imply that the assemblies have not lived up to the expectation of the people in delivering quality service and accountability, and that “means we have not met the reasons for which we were appointed as public servants.”
The Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, in a speech delivered on his behalf said, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was focused on achieving a Ghana Beyond Aid by economically and socially developing the country from grass root through policies which were having impact on the people.
It was, therefore, timely to employ such a key strategy to measure the implementer of the policies done of which include free Senior High School, One Village One Dam, One District One Factory, and Planting for Food and Jobs, amongst others, she said.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI