Poverty Dimensions of Public Governance and Forest Management ...

Appendix to Annex 3: 5
The 1993 Local Government Act organised all 22 sectors, which had been devolved to the local
level, into 12 departments incorporated under the unitary authority of the Assembly. (Crook and
Manor, 1998, 205)
District Assemblies have a number of statutory environmental functions (particularly brown
issues such as sanitation, water and pollution). There is presently no requirement for Assemblies
to convene environmental sub-committees. Only five sub-committees are statutory at Assembly
level. These are for Development planning, Works, Social Services, Justice and Security, and
Finance and Administration (Local Government Act 462, Para 24). However, DAs are at liberty
to create other specialist sub-committees, and District Environmental Sub-committees (DESCs)
are among the most common.
Like the DAs, the Unit Committees comprise elected and appointed members in the ratio 2:1 (ten
elected, and five appointed). The Assembly members are ex-officio members of the Unit
Committees in their respective areas, and act as an important link between the two levels.
(Botchie, 2000, 41) Only since 1997-8, has this lower-level structure been close to fully
operational, with the holding of many of the Unit Committee elections.
Problems with implementation
This research report will examine the implementation of decentralisation in the districts of the
study, with particular references to its environmental consequences. Here, we review the
literature on Ghana’s decentralisation in more general terms, identifying the main constraints on
its implementation to date.
A number of studies exist on this theme, of which the major for our purposes are: Haynes (1991);
Aryee (1996); Mohan (1996); Crook and Manor, 1998; Amanor and Annan (1999); and Botchie
(2000).
Amanor and Annan identify a number of areas in which major problems have arisen, of which
three merit particular mention:
i. Problems in integrating decentralised departments into district assembly structures and
decision-making processes;
ii. Lack of skilled personnel;
iii. Lack of a sound financial base.