Page 1 of 43

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 8

August 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 216

Decentralisation in Developing Countries: The Elusive Sub- national Discretionary Power and Autonomy in Ghana.

Seregious Be-ere

Institute of Local Government Studies, Accra - Ghana

Email: seregiousbeere@yahoo.com

Abstract

Decentralisation reforms have been

embraced by a variety of countries

irrespective of regime type or political

orientation for its facilitative role in

enhancing democratic participatory

governance and development. This paper

questions the extent to which discretionary

decision-making power and autonomy have

been devolved to sub-national governments

as core practices in relation to

decentralisation in developing countries.

Using Ghana as a case, the evidence

suggests that central governments have not

relinquished power to sub-national

governments. Through the appointment of

the District Chief Executive (DCE) and 30

percent of local councillors, the centre

retains power at the local level. The Local

Government Act gives far-reaching

authority to the District Assemblies (DAs)

but in practice these powers have been

restricted by other pieces of legislation

requiring ministerial approval and

supervision of decisions, taxation and

expenditure of the DAs. This weakens

downward accountability and

responsiveness of sub-national leaders to

the people at the grassroots. This situation

is an affront to the practice of a meaningful

decentralisation that can enhance

democracy and development. Hence

devolution in Ghana may be occurring more

at the level of rhetoric than reality.

Page 2 of 43

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 8

August 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 217

Keywords: Decentralisation; sub-national

governments; local autonomy; downward

accountability; discretionary power;

decision-making power 1. Introduction

Decentralisation has been a dominant trend

in the developing world since the 1980s. The

wave of decentralisation across a diversity

of developing and transitional countries has

been variously christened as: ‘the quiet

revolution’, ‘a fashion of our time’ and ‘the

latest fashion’ (Campbell, 2001: 2; Manor,

1999: 1; Conyers, 2006: 447).

Decentralisation is one governance reform

that has been practised by a variety of

countries irrespective of regime type or

political orientation. In fact, it was estimated

over a decade ago that about 80 percent of

the world’s countries are implementing one

form of decentralisation or another (Manor,

1999; Faguet, 2001). The resurgence of

interest in decentralisation in developing

countries in particular has attracted the

attention of experts from academia and

international development institutions in a

quest to uncovering the drivers of the wave

of decentralisation. The evidence revealed

by scholars suggests that there are diverse

reasons underpinning the rising

decentralisation phenomenon in various

developing countries. These reasons are

mixed and transverse economic, political

and social fronts. However, the reasons

behind decentralisation reforms have often

been undertaken with little empirical

evidence of their workability (Smoke et al,

2006; Sharma, 2014). Democracy and

development have been widely endorsed and

cited as the major goals driving the wave of

decentralisation in many developing

countries (Rondinelli and Cheema, 1983;

Crook and Manor, 1998; Manor, 1999;

Eaton and Connerley, 2010). The World

Bank, the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) and major bilateral donors have been

influential in pushing for the adoption of

decentralisation in developing countries as

part of the good governance agenda being

promoted in the early 1990s (Work, 2002;

Treisman, 2006; Wunsch, 2014).

Decentralisation was seen as a tool to

making governance more effective through

the facilitation of democracy, efficient

service delivery and development. The

ability of decentralisation to facilitate

democracy and development in a country is

largely conditional on how decentralisation

is designed in each country and the extent to

which authority and power are devolved to

sub-national governments (Crawford, 2008;

Page 3 of 43

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 02 Issue 8

August 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 218

Martinez-Vazquez and Vaillancourt, 2011;

Wunsch, 2014).

This paper uses the case of decentralisation

in Ghana to question the extent to which

central governments in developing countries

have devolved decision-making

discretionary power and autonomy to sub- national governments in the practice of

decentralisation. The case of

decentralisation in Ghana suggests that

central government does not want to

relinquish power to local governments; and

in this situation the practice of a meaningful

decentralisation that enhances democracy

and development may be more at the level

of rhetoric than reality. And the promise of

giving ‘power to the people’ that heralded

the 1988 decentralisation reforms in Ghana

is yet to be manifested; since power

essentially still remains at the centre and not

with the people.

It is important to question the extent to

which meaningful power has been

transferred to sub-national governments

because the effectiveness of decentralisation

as a facilitative tool for enhancing

democracy and development is largely

dependent on the ability of sub-national

governments to exercise decision-making

discretionary power, autonomy and to

account to the people at the grassroots.

Therkildsen (1993); Ribot (2001) and

Wunsch (2014) aptly point out that sub- national governments will remain mere

management units of central government

without discretionary power and autonomy.

However, over the years it appears that the

World Bank and other donors as well as

other proponents of decentralisation seem

not to be paying much attention to the extent

to which central governments have

transferred power to sub-national

governments. This paper through the case of

decentralisation in Ghana is signalling that

the fruits of decentralisation may be difficult

to attain without addressing the central issue

of lack of sub-national discretionary

decision-making power and autonomy.

Ghana’s decentralisation aims at enhancing

democratic and developmental outcomes by

ensuring that public services are delivered

efficiently; improving local democratic

participation and responsiveness; and

increasing accountability and transparency

of local leaders. However, the central

government seems not to be willing to

devolve power to sub-national governments

to facilitate the achievement of the desired

goals of decentralisation in the country. This