Accountability in local government revenue management: who does what?

Research on financial accountability in local government administration has over the years focused mainly on traditional accountability mechanisms such as analysis of auditor’s report, annual financial statements or reports, and adherence to financial regulations among others. This research orientation often tends to focus more on the actions than the actors in the financial management process. Given that financial accountability is the action of actors, this paper focuses on the ´´who´´ aspect of financial accountability in local government administration. Using a concept of financial responsibility charting, the study sought to assess the level of understanding of core staff and Assembly members of the Asante Akim South District Assembly in Ghana on basic financial roles or responsibilities of actors involved in local government financial administration. The study found that not all the core staff of the Asante Akim South District Assembly knows all the specific financial roles or responsibilities of their colleagues in the financial management chain. The study also found that, the Assembly members who are supposed to hold the officials of the Assembly accountable; do not have a fair understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the core staff in the financial management chain. The paper concludes that until efforts are made to whip up the interest of people, especially the Assembly members on the need to be abreast with financial responsibility charting, the quest for transparency and accountability in local government financial administration would remain a mirage. Keywords: Local government, revenue, management, responsibility charting, accountabilit

Organising and Implementing Local Economic Development Initiatives at the District level in Ghana

The term Local Economic Development (LED) is not is not new, but has an emerging context and usage. The contemporary local economic development approach is conceived as a development strategy that taps the synergy of multiple actors, including central government, local governments, private sector operators and community groups, to facilitate the joint design and implementation of initiatives to stimulate the local economy and productive activity with the view of expanding the range and growth of economic activities and creating jobs for the local residents. The contemporary local economic development approach is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to traditional top-down development strategies which have largely failed to generate meaningful and sustainable economic development at the local level. Since 2003, efforts have been made to promote the contemporary local economic development approach at the district level in Ghana. This study explores how the local economic development approach is promoted and how the interaction between the key (organisational) actors is shaping its practice in the country, particularly at the district level. From an actor-oriented perspective, this study explores how the local economic development approach is evolving as a development strategy and how it is promoted at the District level in Ghana. I demonstrate that the promotion of the local economic development approach at the district level in Ghana is not a mere implementation of a planned intervention/development strategy, but an intervention process shaped by the interaction between local, national, and international (organisational) actors, structural factors and multiple rationalities. The research was conducted in the Berekum Municipal in the Brong Ahafo Region and the Bongo District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. From the cases studied, I found out that the contemporary local economic development approach has prospects or potentials in galvanising the efforts of development actors and local resources into propelling economic development at the district level in Ghana. However, the successful promotion of the contemporary local economic development approach in Ghana is negatively affected by a number of factors: the top-down approach to its implementation, a poorly formulated national LED policy that is incapable of providing strategic direction for LED promotion, capacity constraints of the District Assemblies, as well as the existence of multiple and divergent actor rationalities regarding the promotion of local economic development at the district level in Ghana. Based on these findings, I conclude that the approach and attitude adopted by the key actors to local economic development promotion is the bane to its success. The old approach and attitude to implementing new development strategies like the contemporary local economic development approach runs counter to the biblical admonition that, “no one pours new wine into old wineskins”

Decentralization and Solid Waste Management in Urbanizing Ghana: Moving beyond the Status Quo

Waste management is competing with more pressing economic and social issues such as social protection programs, education, and health. The government of Ghana has therefore decentralized the waste management system in the country. With this development, local government authorities and private sector actors are now playing key roles in waste management in the country. This study sought to examine decentralized solid waste management in the Berekum and Dormaa Municipalities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Specifically, it analyzed the involvement of the private sector in solid waste management, and the quality of waste management services in the two selected municipalities. Through a survey of 312 households, the study analyzed the performance improvement, regulatory policy, and sustainable service delivery of solid waste management in the municipalities. The study found that there were no mechanisms for full cost recovery to include majority of the residents, who patronize communal collection service. The study therefore recommends the adherence to normative standards and agreed rules, adoption, and use of appropriate cost recovery strategies for low-income groups as well as the restructuring of institutional arrangements to ensure user involvement and enforcement of legislation to improve municipal solid waste management in Ghana

Social Safety Nets for Food and Nutritional Security in India

This paper brings together existing literature on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNRGEA) and the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, offering a narrative review of the evidence on impacts on food security, health and nutrition of beneficiaries. Both programs operate on a large scale and have the capacity to impact the factors leading to undernutrition. It is evident that despite the deficiencies in implementation, both the MGNREGA and the PDS are inclusive and reach the poor and the marginalized who are likely to also experience greater undernutrition and poor health. Data challenges have however prevented researchers from conducting studies that assess the ultimate impact of these two large-scale programs on health and nutrition. The evidence that exists suggests largely positive impacts indicating a clear potential to make these programs more nutrition sensitive not just by incorporating elements that would explicitly address nutritional concerns but also by directing specific attention to innovations that strengthen critical complementarities and synergies that exist between the two programs