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The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) and respected local governance expert, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, has attributed the growing congestion in Ghana’s cities to the failure of local authorities to enforce their own by-laws.
According to him, efforts to decongest cities fail largely because of political calculations and undue influence from higher authorities
Speaking on the root causes of street congestion, particularly in urban centers like Accra and Kumasi, Dr. Osae outlined a trio of critical issues: poor enforcement, political interference, and the absence of a long-term decongestion strategy.
“There are three reasons, the first reason is failure on the part of local government to be able to enforce their by-laws strictly. We have laws in place to regulate street trading, sanitation, and traffic, but these are often ignored or inconsistently applied.” He said
Dr. Osae highlighted political interference as the second key challenge, explaining how local government efforts are frequently undermined by national politics. He further disclosed that even in non-election years, local authorities trying to enforce the law are often frustrated.
“The second one is political interference and politicization of the process. Now you will get a Chief Executive who may want to keep the traders off the streets but if it is an election year, you can be sure that this cannot happen. If it is not an election year, a chief executive starts before you realize order from above, and order from above means because the Chief Executive was appointed by the president and also it is likely to cost the government in power, the chief executive will have to discontinue.” He stated
He also cited the lack of a clear and consistent plan for urban management as a major barrier to sustained progress. Dr Eric Oduro Osae lamented the cycle of half-hearted attempts, frustrated by politics and a lack of long-term planning.
“We lack short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to manage trader activity in city centers. Without a roadmap, local authorities are always reacting instead of planning, so these three factors affected the implementation of a strategy to make sure that the cities in Ghana are devoid of trader on the street. He said.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.net
