The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) has launched the District League Table (DLT) rankings for the Western Region, placing Bibiani Anwiaso-Bekwai as the district to place first on the DLT.
Mpohor, Tarkwa Nsuaem Minicipal and Juaboso Assembly placed second, third and fourth place respectively. Bia East, Ahanta West and Prestea Hunni-Valley were the three that fell at bottom of the table respectively. The table shows all the 22 districts in the region, their scores, and ranks in the DLT in respect of their developmental level across the six indicators considered in arriving at the league table.
The indicators included security, education, health, child protection, sanitation and governance and water. With a target score of 100% in the DLT, the Region scored 60%, placing 4th out of 10 in terms of developmental levels. The DLT project seeks to compare and measure the level of development of districts in the region.
These indicators scored a point for the each district in arriving at the final score in the region in tabular form. The DLT project is an initiative of CDD and UNICEF, and is purposed at bringing closer to the doorsteps of the respective MMDA’s and other stakeholders at the district level, the findings of the of the DLT, and to enable all stakeholders familiarise themselves better with the objectives, process, and outcomes of the project.
Launching the DLT in the Western Region at a meeting with heads of Department in Takoradi, Dr. Frankliin Oduro, Deputy Director of CDD, pointed out that the DLT was the first of its kind in the country, and is aimed at supporting and deepening social accountability. He said CDD Ghana had embarked on national projects to promote social accountability, through active participation in local governance, in order to improve transparency in the governance system of selected MMDA’s.
That apart, he added that the DLT was another effort to enhance delivery of public goods and services in the various MMDA’s to complement efforts by the government and non-state actors to scale up social accountability for development. Touching on the positions of the MMDA’s on the DLT, Dr. Oduro opined that the table was not aimed at naming and shaming assemblies, but rather finding ways on how assemblies could learn from each other, in order to improve the lives of their people.
He said, throughout the DLT exercise, the CDD had received positive responss though other districts which have been very unhappy with the table. On his part, Mr. Charles Dzradosi, who is the Social Policy and Planning Officer of UNICEF, pointed out that the DLT was a tool for citizens to know contributions they could make to their respective assemblies.
He, therefore, entreated the media to focus its lens on the development of the assemblies, since they stood for development. The Communications Officer of CDD, Madam Mina Okuru, who gave the overview of the launch of the regional DLT, mentioned good leadership, ability to increase Internal Generated Funds (IGP) and effective monitoring and evaluation amongst others as, key variables in awarding marks to each district on the League Table
ASSESSMENT
The five Districts doing better are in the region are Bibiani Anwiaso-Bekwai, Mpohor, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Juaboso and Sefwi Wiawso District. These districts, per the CDD assessment, have scored between 8% and 15% points above the national average of 58%, and between 6% and13% points above the regional average of 60%.
On the other hand, Jomoro, Wassa East, Bia East, Ahanta West and Prestea Hunni Valley are at the bottom of the DLT in terms of ranking. These bottom districts scored between 3% and 6% points below the national average of 58%, and between 5% and 8% points below the regional average of 60%.