Local Governance Network (LOGNet), a network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on local governance issues has undertaken comprehensive zonal knowledge sharing and capacity building programmes in decentralization process for its members and the media throughout the country.

The LOGNet used three weeks to run the programme (workshops) for the Tamale zone comprising the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions; Cape Coast zone involving Central and Western Regions; while the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions and the Accra zone has the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions as members.

The three weeks workshops were organized by the LOGNet, in collaboration with the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) and sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Speaking at a two day Accra zone workshop in Accra over the weekend, a Deputy Director of the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council, Mr. David Aboagye, who read the Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey's speech for him observed that the country was moving its decentralization programme to suit modern trends apart from offering unparallel opportunities for deepening democracy and getting the people involved in the decision-making process.

He maintained that Ghana's decentralization policy hinges on three pillars, namely - democratization of political power, planning and budget at the district level and revenue mobilization for local development.

Nii Ashietey emphasized that the government believed that those at the helm of affairs should get to know the needs of the people who they serve, such as affordable housing, access to education, potable water, health and good roads.

The Regional Minister encouraged the CSOs who are constantly in touch with people at the grassroot level to ensure that policies put in place are geared towards the benefit of the citizenry.

According to him, to ensure commitment and support for government policies and successful implementation of plans, there was the need to create the necessary environment and space for interaction among the various actors in order to learn and share ideas on best practices.

Nii Ashietey urged the media to also pay attention to local level issues and support the efforts of CSOs, such LOGNet, to create the needed awareness of the citizenry on the rules, as well as the roles and responsibilities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

He added that - "As you are aware the NDC government has started the process of reviewing the decentralization process and as CSOs it is our expectation that you will support government by making meaningful inputs in the local governance and decentralization review process, and subsequently partnering the various MMDAs in your localities to ensure the effective implementation of the policy that is developed".

Indeed, currently, there are some specific measures underway to accelerate the decentralization programme of the country; hence the review of the Local Government Service Act, 2003, Act 656, the Public Procurement Act will be reviewed to re-integrate the MMDAs into the procurement and tender awarding processes, among others.

In his welcome address, the Acting National Coordinator of LOGNet, Mr. Douglas Quartey intimated that "while remarkable strides have been made towards sustaining the democratic process at the national level and decentralization polices and frameworks have been established for local governance, the level of civic awareness and participation in local governance is still low".

He noted that since the return to democratic rule voter turnout in District Assembly elections had been lower than 50% of registered voters. This situation, some schools of thought have attributed to the paradox of having a partisan national level government, being super-imposed on a non partisan local government.

Mr. Quartey, who is also a Research Officer at IDEG, lamented that whilst women constitute more than 50% of the country's population their involvement in key decision making positions at the local level has been minimal. A Programme Officer at the UNDP Ghana Office, Mr. Evans Gyampoh, admonished both the Secretariat and Council of LOGNet to operate transparently, actively engage members and develop appropriate information dissemination and feedback mechanisms.

"Members must be adequately oriented to the mission and objectives of the network to manage expectations and maintain a handsome list of only truly committed members", he added.

A Staff of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS), Mrs. Sethina Annan Darkwah, who took the participants through "The role of CSOs and NGOs local governance", called on NGOs to undertake advocacy and lobbying to exact services and rights of the people. She entreated them to monitor, track and evaluate to ascertain use of resources for the rights of the people.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD), Mr. Bernard Guri, who presented a paper on the role of traditional in decentralization and local governance, urged the government to co-opt Traditional authorities as agents of development at the community level.