Reinventing Governance from Centralisation to Decentralisation: The need for a new direction for Ghana’s local government system

This paper discusses Ghana’s decentralisation and local government system vis-à-vis the District Assembly concept which has functioned since 1988. It analyses why the system has not made the desired impact on the country’s governance system and democratic process. It concludes that the decentralisation system has failed to make the desired impact due to a lack of democratic accountability and legitimacy at the grassroots level and the absence of political will of successive governments to devolve power. It makes some recommendations and proposals on how the system could be made more functional, democratic and accountable to build the confidence and trust of citizens and increase their level of participation in the democratic dispensation.