www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES REALITY OR MIRAGE? AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECENTRALIZED DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN NADOWLI- KALEO DISTRICT STANISLAUS DERY 2018 www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, TAMALE REALITY OR MIRAGE? AN EXAMINATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECENTRALIZED DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN NADOWLI- KALEO DISTRICT BY STANISLAUS DERY (B.A. Integrated Development Studies) (UDS/MDM/0327/14) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT OF THE FACULTY OF PLANNING AND LAND MANAGEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT OCTOBER, 2018 www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh DECLARATION I hereby declare that, this is the product of my own research work towards the Master of Philosophy Degree in Development Management. In areas where it is indebted to the work of others, acknowledgement has duly been made. I also declare that this piece of work has not been presented in part or whole elsewhere for the award of any degree. Candidate’s Signature………………….. Date………………… Stanislaus Dery Supervisor’s Declaration I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines of supervision of thesis laid down by the University for Development Studies. Supervisor’s Signature……………….. Date…………………… Dr. Francis Nangbeviel Sanyare i www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh ABSTRACT Both local and international development partners, development agencies and developing nations have all and are still advocating for decentralization as an important mechanism for widening citizen participation in decision making thereby enhancing the provision of socio-economic infrastructure. Decentralization has one of its major objectives as establishing efficient political, planning and administrative institutions at the district level, which would enhance citizen’s participation and garner support and resources for district development. After more than two decades into the implementation of the decentralized planning system, the involvement of the local people in the planning process leaves much to be desired. It is against this backdrop that the study was conducted in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region to ascertain how the decentralized planning concept has been implemented. The study employed the mixed methodology specifically explanatory sequential mixed method. Both structured and semi- structured interviews were conducted to collect required data for analysis. Generally the study revealed that community participation in decision making is very low owing to the fact that needs assessment is hardly done across communities, and public hearings usually seclude the masses and minority groups. Also, the study further pointed out that most of the sub-structures are none functional. This was attributed to lack of logistics and staff to run these structures. Limited awareness level of citizens with regards to their roles in the decentralized planning system due to the inefficiency of some local government officials was also identified as one of the challenges facing the implementation. Based on these findings, the study recommended that strict adherence by the D.A to the procedural spaces for community participation as provided for by Act 480 must be encouraged. ii www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh The District Assembly should empower the officials at the sub-structures level by providing them with the necessary logistics. The District Assembly must regularly organize community durbars through the Assembly members and the unit committee members to sensitize community members on their roles, People putting themselves up for elections to public offices at the local level should undergo vetting after which the best candidates would be put up for voting. iii www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. Francis Nangbeviel Sanyare for his patience, directives and passion towards the completion of this work. May God richly bless him abundantly in all spheres of life. I also say a big thank you to the staff of the Nadowli Kaleo District Assembly especially Madam Safia Abdulai and Mr Bimi Lartey for giving me the maximum co-operation and information to make this research a success. Many thanks to the Staff of Center for Development Initiatives who worked tirelessly to collect the data for the study. Finally, I appreciate the efforts of all who contributed in diverse ways to the success of this work. I say may God continue to shower His blessings upon you. iv www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh DEDICATION I dedicate this piece of work to my wife, Mrs. Betty Madona, for her encouragement during the write up, and my lovely family- Solomon and Sixtus for their tireless efforts and sacrifices throughout my education, which has brought me this far. v www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................... 1 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESERCH BACKGROUND ....................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem statement .............................................................................................................. 5 1.3 General Research question .............................................................................................. 9 1.3.1 Specific Research questions .................................................................................... 9 1.4 General objective ................................................................................................................. 9 1.4.1 Specific objectives ....................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Relevance of the study ..................................................................................................... 10 1.6 Scope of the study .............................................................................................................. 11 1.7 Organization of the Study ............................................................................................... 11 1.8 Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................. 13 REVIEW OF CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF DECENTRALIZED PLANNING......... 13 2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Definition of Decentralization....................................................................................... 13 2.2 Decentralized planning Concept .................................................................................. 17 2.3 Evolution of the Concept of Decentralized Planning in Ghana ........................ 18 2.4 The Decentralization Policy in Ghana ........................................................................ 20 2.5 Decentralized Planning System in Ghana ................................................................. 20 2.6 Current Decentralized Planning System in Ghana ................................................ 22 2.7 Structure of the planning system in Ghana ............................................................. 23 2.7.1 District Assembly as a Planning Authority ...................................................... 26 2.7.2 District Planning Coordinating Unit ................................................................... 27 2.7.3 Sub District Structures ............................................................................................ 28 2.8 Development Planning Process at the District Level ........................................... 30 2.9 Development Planning Process at the sub- District Level ................................. 31 2.10 Essence of Decentralized development planning ............................................... 32 vi www.udsspace.uds.edu.gh 2. 11 Participatory Planning ................................................................................................. 34 2.12 Conceptualising Community Participation ........................................................... 37 2.13 Typology of Participation