Dr Eric Oduro Osae, a local government expert, has advised the government to consider seeking the advice of traditional authorities in decentralized operations of district assemblies to promote economic development.

He said the inclusion of traditional authorities in the decentralization process would help the work of the district assemblies to adopt the best strategies to improve economic development, which had been a key concern to government.

Dr Osae said this during a sensitization forum organized by the Center for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) and the local Governance Network (LOGNet) with funding from the Inter Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC).

Dr Osae said the Tamale forum was the last of the nationwide forums on decentralization and that the involvement of traditional authorities would also help identify potential economic resources within the districts to complement the “One District, One Factory” policy by government to create jobs to reduce unemployment in the country.

He said “the new Local Government Act (Act 936) would create opportunity for the media to meet District Chief Executives (DCE) and ask questions pertaining to development of the districts” to hold DCEs more accountable.

Madam Gladys G.N. Tetteh, the deputy executive director for the Center for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA), said the sensitization is aimed at exposing Non-state actors: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and traditional authorities to the new entrenched laws.

She said the citizenry should be sensitized on the clauses enshrined in the new Local Government Act (Act 936) regarding persons that indiscriminately litter the environment or allow their cattle to roam on the streets.

She said persons culpable for such acts under the new Local Governance Act (Act 936) would be liable to three years jail term and urged the general public to act responsibly so as not to be arrested for such crimes.

She urged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and traditional authorities to disseminate the new provisions enshrined in the Act to the public to prevent them from faulting the laws to strengthen law and order in the country.

The local Governance Act (Act 936) was passed by Parliament in 2016, which has several consulate local Governance laws.