CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Ahwoi (2010) defines local government as the process of transferring power from the central government to sub-national units of government. It is a system of governance where the administration of a particular jurisdiction is delegated to the people within that community. The Local Government Act 936 of Ghana (2016) establishes the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) as the basic units of government to oversee the development of the various districts. The MMDAs are mandated to mobilise resources from within their respective geographical areas, District Assembly Common Fund and funds from other donor partners like the Urban Development Grant to provide the needed development for these areas.
The diagram below shows the structural levels within the local governance system. The Regional Coordinating Councils oversee the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. Under the Metropolitan Assemblies are the Sub-Metropolitan Councils then the Unit Committees. The Municipal Assemblies have Zonal Councils then Unit Committees. The District Assemblies have Urban Councils then Unit Committees.
One key issue customary to local governance is the engagement of the grassroots in development processes. Matson (2001) defined grassroots as a process involving the common people as they constitute a fundamental political and economic group. Grassroots are therefore people at the local level who are the beneficiaries of development projects. The local authority as the basic administrative unit is established to work on behalf of the citizens and so it is important that leaders at the local authorities involve the citizens at every point. Eliciting involvement means communicating effectively to citizens. Accountability is another key subject in local governance. Local authorities must be able to report to citizens on the utilization of public funds.
To execute this, it is important for information to be shared through effective communication. Consequently a major way to empower citizens to demand accountability is to give them information through effective communication. However, a Send-Ghana (2010) study revealed that a primary concern accounting for low participation in local governance is the lack of access to information.
The Local Government Act 936 of 2016 makes provision for the involvement of the citizens for participatory governance at the local level. This is stated in section (40) which says that “A district shall enable the residents and stakeholders in the district to participate effectively in the activities of the district assembly and the sub-district structures of the district assembly”. Other provisions in the law spell out the activities that residents and stakeholders are supposed to take part in. These include participation in the making of by-laws and fee fixing resolutions. For these to be realized, the act provides for a number of communication interventions to increase the interface between local authorities and citizens. Below is an overview of these provisions.
Town hall meetings
As spelt out in Section 42 (b) of the Act 936, MMDAs are to use town hall meetings as a means of engaging their residents. It is mandatory for them to organize at least two town hall meetings every year, one in the first quarter to report on the public financial performance and one in the third quarter to meet with residents on planned and budgeted activities for the following year. These meetings are to enable residents take part in planning and budgeting of developmental projects to be done in their various communities. They are also to afford the residents the opportunity to demand accountability from their local authorities. To ensure adherence, the Urban Development Grant of the World Bank for instance uses the organization of town hall meetings as a requirement for assessment of the grant.
Budget preparation and validation forum
This is a forum that is to be used to engage residents and stakeholders to be part of the budgeting processes of the assemblies. This forum enables both authorities and residents to agree on fee fixing resolutions. These include fees on property rates, business operating rates for permits, transport tolls and permit fees for unions etc.
Information vans
The MMDAs are also to make use of Information Service Vans that go round communities to make announcement on assembly plans, programs and activities. These vans use commentators who use languages that residents are mostly familiar with.
Developmental project site visits
These are visits organized by local authorities with residents and stakeholders to project sites for monitoring. This is done to engage residents in the monitoring and evaluation of projects and not
only the planning. MMDAs scarcely involve residents and civil society organisations in these visits.
Mass media
MMDAs are also to use television, newspapers, radio and other mass media channels to communicate with residents and stakeholders.
The Role of Communication in local governance
The essence of local governance is to decentralize power to the citizen which will enable them to oversee the development of their various areas of jurisdiction. Communication plays an important role in the pursuance of this mandate. In order for citizens to be actively involved in the governance process it is essential that they receive the needed information and are able to give the necessary feedback. This can only be achieved through effective communication. It is therefore important that this role is recognized and communication fully integrated into the local governance system. Marquez (2002) makes it clear that the goal of successful communications is to make sure that there is a both a one and two-way flow of information between local government and its community. It is important that information relayed to residents by their local authorities is received and feedback given for communication to be successful.
The regular flow of information between residents and their local authorities through channels that will enable feedback is what will enable civic participation. Activities such as the preparation of Medium Term Development plans, fixing fees for rate payers, planned and budgeted activities; public financial management performance reporting cannot be done without the citizens. Graber (2003) draws attention to the little focus placed on governance
communication by public administration. Communication in governance must be treated as a management function.
The crucial nature of communication to the success of local governance means that there is the need for each local authority to create a communication department and integrate it into the organizational structure as a management function where the communicator is involved in decision making.
Problem statement
The functions of the MMDAs include exercising political and administrative authority in their areas of jurisdiction and promoting local economic development. In promoting local economic development, they provide infrastructural development and equitable provision of services. For MMDAs to achieve this vision of decentralizing power, it is important that residents and stakeholders in a particular jurisdiction participate actively.
Accordingly, Akudugu et al. (2012) assert that effective grassroots participation in local governance enhances culturally agreeable, socially acceptable, economically viable, politically neutral, and environmentally sustainable development interventions. . They continue to argue that when citizens are engaged, they are able to own the development of their communities thereby sustaining it.
Effective communication is critical to provoking civic participation. It is therefore important for MMDAs to be able to reach out to their stakeholders for effective participation. The Local Government Act 936, Section 42(b) as indicated above spells out some modes of communication which are being employed by some MMDAs. Is communication however, playing the needed role in the engagement of residents in the governance process? Furthermore, are the geographic
locations, demographic factors and media consumption preferences of residents taken into consideration?
A 2013 CDD report showed that in spite of all the communication efforts of MMDAs, citizen participation is still low. Yet little is known about the factors contributing to this state of affairs from the perspective of the communication links that exist between local governance and citizens. What is the nature of the communication relationship that exists between local assemblies and their residents? How highly is communication prioritized by local assemblies to the extent of codifying strategies to be used in opening up communication links between assemblies and citizens? How well are citizens reached by the communication efforts of local assemblies and how involved do they feel in local governance? Most importantly, what are the communication preferences of citizens in being engaged by local assemblies? These questions remain unanswered in the sparse communication-related literature that has been conducted on the local governance system in Ghana.
This study therefore delved into the issues raised by exploring communication in local governance through the eyes of two local authorities to know what pertains on the ground. Specifically, the study assessed the communication effort of the two assemblies (Adentan Municipal Assembly and Tema Metropolitan Assembly) and juxtaposed these with citizens’ knowledge and perceptions about them along with their opinions on how best to be engaged in local governance through communication.
Aim and Objectives of the study
This study aims to find out how communication is being used to achieve civic participation in local governance and also ascertain how communication activities of the assemblies impact on the grassroots. Accordingly, this study was underpinned by the following objectives:
- Ascertain the current communication relationship that exists between citizens and their local authorities.
- Examine and understand provisions in existing communication strategies as a means of understanding how highly assembly-citizen communication is prioritized and organized.
- Find out the level of involvement of residents in local governance. It is to help investigate what pertains in these two assemblies as to the level of participation of residents in the activities of the assemblies.
- Find out grassroots preferences for being engaged by local assemblies.
Research Questions
The following questions were extracted from the above objectives:
RQ1: What is the nature of the communication relationship of local authorities and their citizens?
This research question sought to ascertain the kind of relationship that exists between the two assemblies and residents under their jurisdictions as far as communication is concerned. As part of finding this, questions probed into what roles communication plays in the activities of the local authorities and how communication activities are implemented by the assemblies.
RQ2: What written documents guide communication processes used by the local authorities?
The study seeks to find out about the existence of strategies to guide assemblies in citizens’ engagements and communication activities to reach. Answers to this question were gathered through interviews with Assembly officials and document analysis.
RQ3: How have the MMDAs used communication to involve residents in governance process?
The study of the role of communication in local governance is to get residents to participate and be part of the governance process. This should be at all levels, from decision making, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of projects and policies spearheaded by local authorities. One question that this study sought to answer was how residents have been involved in governance through communication as far as the cases of Tema Metropolitan and Adentan Municipality are concerned.
RQ4: What are the most preferred channels of communication and expectations of residents in governance?
Since the establishment of Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies by Legislative Instruments, they communicate to their residents as recommended in the Local Government Act. Studies have also shown that citizens now have sophisticated media preferences with a lot of diversity. Accordingly, to be able to meet and engage with them, communicators must match their channels and messages to the preferences of residents. One research question that this study answered therefore was what the preferences and expectations of residents are for governance participation.
Justification for the Study
CDD (2013) established the importance of communication in local governance but however found out that participation of citizens in local government activities is low across thirteen districts in the country. Thriving democracy depends on the information fed to the masses and opportunity for feedback and meaningful engagement making information and communication a key building block for democracy and an essential element in sustainable development (Gaber, 2007).
However, there is a paucity of research in understanding the supply and demand side perspectives of communication as a means to enabling citizen participation in local governance. CDD (2013) looked at the role of communication in local governance from the perspective of citizens.
This study seeks to look at the role of communication in local governance taking into consideration efforts of the local authorities and their impact on residents. Findings will therefore enrich the literature by providing insights into communication in governance. The findings will also enable the local authorities to understand the failings in their communication efforts and improve upon their communication with residents thereby engaging them more effectively.
Operational Definitions
The following definitions have been adopted to limit ambiguity and provide meanings for specific words or phrases as they apply to this study.
Local governance
Local governance used refers to the delegation of power for the administration of a particular jurisdiction from the government at the national level to the people within that area.
Communication
Communication in this context refers to the exchange of information between a local authority and residents within its area of jurisdiction.
Engagement
This refers to the involvement of residents or beneficiaries of development in the process of development.
Accountability
The assumption of the responsibility of involving residents in development decisions and to them reporting to them the use financial resources as well as taking their inputs.
Empowerment
This refers to the making available of information needed by residents to fully understand their roles in the governance process.
Scope of the Study
This study is restricted to communication between the assemblies and their residents. The study has no interest in communication with other stakeholders i.e. the central government, other assemblies. The study did not also include internal communication within the assemblies. Finally, while the study title, in signaling ‘the role of…’ connotes an interest in effects analysis, the study’s primary interest was in demand and supply perspectives on the communication as presently practiced in the two assemblies. The closest the study gets to establish any effects is by asking residents the extent to which they perceive a strong sense of engagement in local governance as a consequence of District Assemblies’ communication activities. Given the case study approach adopted in the study, the focus was to attempt an overall view of assembly-to- citizen communication in the selected assemblies as well as citizens’ preferences for making this effective.
