IMCC secretary: Transport problems should be tackled locally, not blamed on central government
The Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralisation, Dr. Gameli Hoedoafia, has emphasized that Ghana’s transport difficulties are issues for district assemblies to resolve, not failures of the central government.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, January 14, Dr. Hoedoafia responded to concerns about the effectiveness of the local government system and the persistent transport challenges across the country. While acknowledging that some areas of local governance require urgent attention, he rejected claims that the system is dysfunctional.
Turning specifically to transport, he explained that although the Ministry of Transport is responsible for setting national policy, the responsibility for implementing solutions lies with local authorities. “Transport is one of the areas I will identify as needing improvement. When you look at my remit, the Transport Ministry is not part of the IMCC, but because transport is a local issue and affects everybody, it is important for local governments themselves to deal with it,” he said.
Dr. Hoedoafia underscored that existing legislation already empowers Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to take charge of transport-related matters without waiting for directives from Accra. “Remember that the law empowers local governments to do a lot of these things for themselves and by themselves, and not to sit down waiting for central government,” he said.
He further pointed out that District Chief Executives (DCEs) and Coordinating Directors, who serve as the chief technical officers at the local level, are expected to lead efforts in addressing such challenges. “The DCEs and the coordinating directors are supposed to work on these issues, and they know it. They should be fixing them themselves,” he added.
Criticizing what he described as a culture of dependency, Dr. Hoedoafia argued that excessive reliance on the central government has weakened accountability at the district level. “We have a culture of overreliance on central government, so issues that should be dealt with at the local government level are blamed on the minister. Yes, the minister sets the policy, but the implementation is the role of the districts,” he said.
His remarks highlight the ongoing debate over decentralisation and the need for stronger district-level leadership in tackling everyday challenges such as transport, which directly affect citizens across the country.
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