Political parties have been urged to prioritise local level development in their manifestoes for the 2020 general election.

Dr Eric Oduro Osae, the Technical Adviser of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, said as the nation pushes towards the election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), political parties must be interested in local-level development rather than allowing their manifestoes to be national-level focus.

“Again, I am also encouraging all political parties to use the bottom-up approach to help them develop a credible manifesto because anything that starts up from the bottom aggregate at the top and that is the best way to go,” Dr Osae stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency over the weekend in Accra.

On the pending referendum on the election of MMDCEs, Dr Osae noted that there was the need for a by partisan support from all the political parties in Parliament.

He said at the moment article 243(1) of the 1992 Constitution, which empowers the President to appoint MMDCEs was in Parliament for amendment; and that the House was expected to vote on it.

“For the amendment to go through, our constitution requires that two-thirds majority of Members of Parliament (MPs) to vote in favour; none of the two political parties in Parliament – New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) command the two-thirds majority,” he said.

“So, we need people to talk to their MPs, so that the MPs will vote massively to approve that particular article. Once that article is approved it means the President has implicitly given his power to appoint MMDCEs to the citizens. So that citizens can then go ahead and vote for their MMDCEs.”

He appealed to Ghanaians to come out in their numbers on December 17 to elect their assemblymen and unit committee members and to also vote in favour of the referendum on the election of MMDCEs.

Dr Osae, who also appealed to all public servants to take part in the December 17 District Level Election and referendum, explained that this was because the local democracy was one of the best things that the nation needs.

He said the election of MMDCEs would enhance good governance, transparency and accountability; stating that it would go a long way to deepen Ghana’s democratic credentials.