Factors Affecting Citizens’ Participation in the Decentralization Process in Ghana

Abstract

Participation in decision-making is the root of democratization, as democratization is widely believed to be rooted in decentralization. As such, citizens’ participation in the decentralization process will bring governance closer to the people. The focus of the study was to explore the factors that affect the citizens’ participation in Ghana’s decentralization process. The researcher used the case study design for the study. Both questionnaire and interview protocol were used for data gathering. One hundred and six people in the area were conveniently sampled to become respondents in the study. For the method of data analysis, the researcher used tables and percentages. The study found out that the office of the DCE and how the DCE is selected, Assembly Members and Unit Committee Members of the district assembly and the motivation given them, internal funds mobilization, cooperation among stakeholders, education given to the citizens and others were the factors that generally affected the programme in the Central Tongu District. The study recommended that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should establish monitoring mechanisms to assess the extent citizens’ engagement/participation in the decentralization process and addresses depilating factors that hinder the citizens’ participation in the decentralization process in the CTD and beyond CTD.