Government has been asked to formulate effective strategies and policies towards the implementation of the decentralization concept. The call was made by participants at one-day forum at Bawku in the Upper West Region at the weekend. It was organized by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to mark the annual constitutional week celebration. The event attracted participants from civil organizations, political parties, traditional councils, women’s groups and the Bawku Municipal Assembly. The participants noted that if the decentralization concept was implemented effectively, district and municipal assemblies would be able to generate funds for speedy development instead of depending on the central Government. They said the only way to measure democracy was to effectively implement the decentralization concept to give the people the opportunity to contribute to national development. The participants mentioned that the local Government sub-structures such as unit committees, metropolitan, town, zonal, and area councils, when allowed to function efficiently would help promote good governance and democracy. Mr Francis Awindaogo, a retired civil servant, noted that the decentralized concept was designed to bring government closer to the people. He noted that decentralized departments were not functioning in accordance with the concept because they were answerable to authorities at the seat of Government in Accra. Mr Gomez Adongo, Municipal NCCE Director, appealed to the people to participate in discussions at forums. He asked the people to be abreast with the 1992 Constitution of Ghana to enable them to project their rights. Source: GNA