Examining the Effects of Governance Challenges in Ghana’s Local Government System: A Case Study of the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly

Abstract

Local government is established by law to provide grassroot developments. However, in Ghana, local government institutions are not performing their responsibilities effectively due to challenges bedevilling them. In this paper, the researcher seeks to examine the challenges militating against the performance of the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly. To achieve this objective, convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 60 respondents for the study. Qualitative methods such as interviews and focus group discussion were used to collect data for the study. In addition, the discussion was also based on documentary analysis. Ineffective level of accountability and coordination, poor management capacity, inadequate finance, and low level of local participation in the local level programmes were identified as the challenges facing the performance of the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly. The paper recommends the following measures to resolve them. These measures include the creation of more awareness among the citizens to improve the level of participation, recruitment of administrative staff with sharp analytical skills, improvement of the internally generated revenue through investments in resources that yield revenue, and improvement of the institutional building that produces the human capital committed to the principles of good governance at the local level.