A Lecturer in Local Governance and Decentralisation, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, has proposed choosing Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) from among the elected members of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs). Choosing an MMDCE in that manner, he added, ensured that the person was chosen from among the elected members of the assembly only, localising the appointment at the district level and removing all central government control. That option was among 10 others he proposed in a lecture on, “Strategic leadership for effective service delivery at the local level: The way forward”, at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) in Accra. He said although there was an advocacy for the election of a MMDCEs at the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) and that appeared to be “the popular view, the popular view is not always the correct view”. He said there were several options in choosing MMDCE to meet the public quest for accountable leaders at the local level that had not yet been explored. Some of the other options he mentioned were choosing an MMDCE by appointment by the President from among the members of the MMDA; choosing him or her by appointing the metropolitan, municipal and district coordinating director (MMDCD) as the MMDCE and having the MMDA appoint a town clerk to perform the functions of the MMDCD, choosing him or her by an interview conducted by the Public Services Commission (PSC) and choosing him or her by a presidential nomination, with an interview by the PSC and appointment by the President. Expanding his options, Prof. Ahwoi noted that choosing an MMDCE from among the members of the MMDAs ensured a balance of central and local government influences in the appointment, while appointing the MMDCD as the MMDCE and appointing a town clerk by the MMDA to perform the functions of the MMDCD ensured competence and efficiency, though the process was unrepresentative and undemocratic. The option of the PSC interviewing the choice was also for competence and efficiency. In the paper, he established that local governance in the country was changing at a profound pace, with change in the systems, structures, personnel and objectives. The change, he said, required strategic leadership. In defining strategic leadership, Prof. Ahwoi said its essence was the attainment of the right balance between the whole, that is, the organisational needs of the MMDA and the parts, “be they the large functions or the small teams and individuals”. He said a strategic leader had to also build consensus around the assembly’s vision and also the diverse interests of constituents. To achieve that, Prof Ahwoi was of the view that the language used had to be one that fostered participation, instead of one that exposed differences. Illustrating, he said the use of “we”, as opposed to “they”, had to be changed for “we”, as “we” fostered consensus and a “win-win” strategy in initiatives at the local level. Source: Daily Graphic