Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang says the government is restoring momentum to Ghana’s decentralisation reforms with the revival of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), describing the body as “the engine room that keeps our local governance system moving.”
According to her, Ghana’s decentralisation efforts have historically progressed whenever the IMCC is active, noting that the evidence is clear from the period between 2010 and 2016 when the Committee “resolved some of the most difficult and long-standing challenges that had been hanging since 1989.”
Chairing the Committee’s maiden meeting under the new administration on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, the Vice President stressed that the IMCC’s return signals a renewed national commitment to strengthening local governance.
“The IMCC has been dormant for far too long. We are bringing it back to full force because decentralisation is not optional—it’s essential to national development,” she noted.
The meeting brought together ministers and representatives from Health, Agriculture, Education, Finance, Local Government, Gender, and other key agencies. Discussions focused on the National Decentralisation Policy Framework and Strategy, the operational structure of the IMCC, and priority reforms needed to make decentralisation more effective.
A major highlight was the presentation of the completed National Decentralisation Policy Framework and Strategy (2026–2030) document.
The Vice President described the new policy as “a coherent national roadmap” built around six critical areas: Political Decentralisation, Administrative Decentralisation, Decentralised Planning, Fiscal Decentralisation, Local Economic Development, and Popular Participation and Accountability.
“We examined the document thoroughly and offered recommendations to strengthen it. The work ahead is significant, but we are ready. Each ministry must now align with the NDPS (2026–2030) and deliver results within its mandate. We will push these reforms, and we will see them through.”
“Decentralisation brings governance closer to the people. That is why this Committee must work, Ghanaians deserve a system that responds quickly, efficiently and transparently.”
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
