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CHAPTER 20
DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
240 LOCAL GOVERNMENT
(1)
Ghana shall have a system of local government and administration which shall, as far as practicable,
be decentralized.
(2)
The system of decentralized local government shall have the following features (a) Parliament shall enact appropriate laws to ensure that functions, powers, responsibilities and
resources are at all times transferred from the Central Government to local government units in
a coordinated manner;
(b) Parliament shall by law provide for the taking of such measures as are necessary to enhance the
capacity of local government authorities to plan, initiate, co-ordinate, manage and execute
policies in respect of all matters affecting the people within their areas, with a view to ultimately
achieving localization of those activities;
(c) there shall be established for each local government unit a sound financial base with adequate
and reliable sources of revenue;
(d) as far as practicable, persons in the service of local government shall be subject to the effective
control of local authorities;
(e) to ensure the accountability of local government authorities, people in particular local
government areas shall, as far as practicable, be afforded the opportunity to participate
effectively in their governance.
241 DISTRICTS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
(1)
For the purposes of local government, Ghana shall be deemed to have been divided into the districts
in existence immediately before the coming into force of this Constitution.
(2)
Parliament may by law make provision for the redrawing of the boundaries of districts or for
reconstituting the districts.
(3)
Subject to this Constitution, a District Assembly shall be the highest political authority in the district,
and shall have deliberative, legislative and executive powers.
Ghana 1992 (rev. 1996)
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