Decentralisation and governance in Ghana: A case of the Kwahu North district

Abstract

The study set out to examine the impact of decentralisation in the governance of the Kwahu North District. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The data collection tools used were questionnaires and Focus Group Discussion guide. the study covered 136 respondents selected by means of purposive and simple random sampling techniques. The primary data collected were analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) Version 15.0 This study revealed that decentralisation has had positive effects on agriculture, social and physical infrastructure in the district. With regard to poverty alleviation and environmental conservation, the effects have been negative. Perceptions of the sampled respondents of decentralisation, governance, indicators of good governance, achievements and challenges of decentralisation corroborated what most writers had said. Among others, the study recommends the capacity building of the various actors of decentralisation, election of government appointees to ensure more accountability and transparency, collaboration between traditional authorities and the District Assembly to protect the environment and minimised deductions from the District Assemblies’ Common Fund by management of the Fund as this deprives the local people of adequate development interventions.