The government has been advised to rethink the creation of more districts so as not to bring a strain on the national coffers, particularly the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).

Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, an ex-Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said under normal circumstances, district assemblies (DAs) are created to engage in planning and development and not just for political expediency.

Mr. Ahwoi gave the advice at a Public Agenda Engagement Planning Workshop in Accra on Wednesday to map out way forward for the paper's decentralization advocacy project.

Mr.Ahwoi questioned the creation of the Teshie-Nungua District Assembly, considering its location and jurisdiction." One wonders why certain districts have been created, for instance the Teshie-Nungua District Assembly. Districts are created to plan for the development of their areas and not merely for the sake of it, since they have implications on the Consolidated Fund", Mr. Ahwoi pointed out.

The number of districts has recently been increased from 138 districts to 170. Any additional district means the appointment of DCEs, the election of assembly members and the allocation of a portion of the DACF to the new districts, among others.

Mr. Ahwoi, who is currently a lecturer at GIMPA, expressed concern about what appears to be the different definitions given to decentralization by different regimes. He explains that whereas to the "NPP decentralization means deconcentration to the NDC it means devolution of power".

"The fundamental problem of decentralization is one of definition and the term has to be defined else one day a judge will define it for us and we may end up with a meaning that we cannot work with," he adds.

Additionally, he notes that Public Agenda's workshops have centered on fiscal decentralization with emphasis on decentralized transfers and advised the paper to focus on areas such as basic rate and property re-evaluation, which are potential sources of income for the assemblies.

He recognized the need for a write-up on the status of decentralization which would serve as the basis for informed debate on the subject.

Mr. Eric Osae, a lecturer at the ILGS, urged Public Agenda to expand the distribution network of its quarterly supplement, the "Decentralization Agenda" since it has become the "mouthpiece of decentralization". He also asked the paper to widen its base of operations and collaborate with other NGOs in order to avoid duplication.

Mr. Osae advocated an engagement between Public Agenda and the Presidential candidates of the various political parties to get the parties declare their position on decentralization.