Rethink MMDCE elections – Dr Tando proposes MP-led appointment model

Governance and public policy analyst Dr Solahudeen Tando has proposed a fundamental rethink of Ghana’s continuing debate over the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs). He argued that the country should consider transferring appointment responsibility from the President to Members of Parliament rather than creating another layer of public elections. Under the proposed model, MPs would appoint MMDCEs as development representatives within a regulated professional framework, with clear qualification and competence standards and safeguards against unrestricted political patronage.

Dr Tando argues that the proposal deserves consideration because Ghana’s political culture has already transformed MPs into de facto development agents, although their formal constitutional role remains principally legislative and representative. He made the proposal at the National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance in Accra, where he presented a discussion paper titled, “The Next Frontier of Democratic Decentralisation: Strengthening District Assemblies as Territorial Platforms of the Ghanaian State for Integrated Public Service Delivery and Local Development.” The dialogue brought together government officials, local government practitioners, academics, civil society organisations, development partners and other sector stakeholders to examine the future of Ghana’s decentralisation system. Dr Tando questioned whether the proposed election of MMDCEs adequately resolves the deeper institutional problems confronting local governance.

“What real problem does another election of MMDCEs seek to solve?” he asked. He argued that the question becomes particularly important when the existing political and institutional realities surrounding MPs are examined. According to him, MPs routinely campaign on roads, schools, health facilities, sanitation, jobs and other local development priorities.

Constituents consequently hold them politically accountable for development outcomes, although formal responsibility for local development rests principally within the District Assembly system. He noted that the Government’s 2026 Position Paper on constitutional reform has itself acknowledged this institutional evolution, describing MPs as having become development agents in their constituencies “by default” and rejecting a recommendation that DACF …