About 80 participants including 45 Members of Parliament (MPs) on Saturday began a two-day workshop on Local Government Review and Decentralization in Koforidua. The workshop is to prepare Parliament, represented by members of the parliamentary select committees on Local Government and Rural Development, Subsidiary Legislation and Constitutional and Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for the proposed National Stakeholders Consultative Conference on Decentralisation. Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, observed in an address that, decentralisation and local government reform initiatives are processes that calls for time for reflection on the implementation amongst stakeholders, with the view to adopt better strategies and find appropriate solutions to the challenges and emerging issues. He said the policy objective of the decentralisation and the local government reform initiative sought to broaden the base of the decision-making processes by providing the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, civil society organisations and other stakeholders the enabling environment to provide opportunity for the citizens to participate in governance and the development process. Mr Yieleh Chireh said implementation of the policy had made modest gains, "however, it is still confronted with a number of challenges". "These challenges range from inconsistency in the laws governing the decentralised system of local governance to capacity issues." Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, expressed the hope that the participants would not adopt a partisan approach at the workshop to undermine dispassionate discussion of the issues at stake. "The input you will make at the National Stakeholders forum will determine the effectiveness of Parliament," he said. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo called for a second look at the present system, which enable government to nominate people to assemblies, especially the quota given to traditional authorities. Daasebre Professor Emeritus Oti Boateng, Omanhene (Paramount Chief) of the New Juaben Traditional Area, who chaired the function, said an effective decentralisation system would move the country forward and urged the participants to take the review exercise seriously. He called for proper remuneration for assembly members, adding that they cannot sacrifice forever. Daasebre Oti Boateng suggested that district chief executives should be elected by the people and not appointed by the President as is the current practice. The workshop was on the theme: "Parliamentary Preparations towards the National Stakeholders Conference on Local Government and Decentralisation." It was organised by the Support of Decentralisation Reform of the German Agency for Technical Co-operation Source: GNA