Decentralization and Pro-poor Participation in Ghana: Unmasking the Barriers to Inclusive Grassroots Development

Abstract

Donors have strongly advocated decentralization on the grounds that it broadens the participation of citizens in development processes, thereby increasing government responsiveness to their needs. Although there have been studies seeking to establish the veracity of this claim, they remain weak on two fronts. One, while wealth differentials affect citizen participation, these studies approach citizens as a homogenous group. Two, participation is mostly viewed narrowly—participation in elections. Drawing on empirical data from Ghana’s decentralization reform, this paper addresses these gaps by questioning how pro-poor citizen participation in decentralized development planning has been. I argue that although Ghana’s decentralization was propagated on championing pro-poor grassroots participation in governance and development, in reality, participation is elitist and has failed to reflect the voices of the poor. My findings demonstrate that the participation structures and processes used in local development planning are unfavourable to the poor in many respects. Elite and representative participation is promoted to the detriment of broad citizen participation. This exclusion is resulting in surging apathy of citizens towards the district assemblies—institutions hitherto trusted as their development champions. This paper concludes that the poor will remain voiceless despite decentralization unless the structural barriers to their participation are tackled in decentralization design and praxis.

Unpacking decentralization failures in promoting popular participation in the Ketu South Municipality of Ghana

“…In the case of Africa, the decision for decentralization of governance, which meant the establishment of sub-national governments, hinges on several factors including public demand for an accountable government, the need to remedy economic hardships due to central government failures, and finding a mechanism to abolish personalized rules in many parts of the continent [ 2 , 3 ]. Sawaneh and Lamin [ 4 ] and Be-ere [ 5 ] argued that the policy decision by countries to devolve parts of their central government functions to local government authorities is driven by the desire to promote local empowerment, improve distributional equity of resources, and enable developmental planning at the local level. The desire for citizens’ empowerment at the local level aims at promoting the active participation of citizens in local government administration, policymaking, and implementation processes.…”

“…The participation of citizens in local government administration in countries that have adopted democratic governance practices are the theoretical basis for most decentralization arguments [ 5 , 8 , 9 ]. The quest to promote democracy, at least in theory, goes with efforts at decentralizing.…”

“…This is premised on the expectation that decentralization creates room for active participation of citizens in policy planning and implementation [ 10 , 11 ]. Be-ere [ 5 ] notes that decentralization makes feasible citizens’ participation in democratic governance systems. He further added that decentralization deepens and makes democratic governance practices meaningful.…”

“…In developing countries, including Ghana, the majority of the studies conducted on decentralization were unable to establish evidences of improved citizens' participation due to decentralization [ 5 ]. Typical amongst them were studies conducted in China, India and Egypt by Von Braun and Grote [ 12 ], in Ghana by Adams and Taabazuing [ 13 ], in Kenya by Bulut and Abdow [ 14 ], and in both Kenya and Uganda by Devas and Grant [ 15 ].…”

“…All these studies either reported a weak opportunity for citizens' participation or its entire absence. Be-ere [ 5 ] added that citizens’ participation both in Kenya and Uganda was limited to mere participation in electoral processes. Against the above background, this study investigated the manifestations of popular participation in local government in accordance with the provisions of Act 936 in the Ketu Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana.…”