Accra – Thursday 9- Friday 10, November 2023: The Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS) led officials from Kenema District Council in Seirra Leone on a two-day study tour in Ghana. The tour which begun in October took the first batch of the team from Bombali District also in Seirra Leone to Tema Metropolitan, Kpone Katamanso Municipal and Korle Klottey Municipal Assemblies and continued to the Accra Composite recycling plant. The second batch of the team visited the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Adentan Municipal Assembly.
In a welcoming remark by the Head of the Local Government Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur he said, the doors of the Local Government Service remain opened to all African countries and institutions for knowledge sharing and best practices in Local Governance and Decentralisation.
He expressed appreciation to the team for choosing Ghana as their study destination and revealed that as long as Ghana and Seirra Leone have embraced Decentralisation and Local Governance to enhance service delivery at the local level, the doors of the Local Government Service (LGS) would remained open for knowledge sharing. He described their visit as an opportunity to moot new ideas, share knowledge, and learn from the mutual successes and challenges on local governance and development. He encouraged the officials to freely enquire about issues of concerns and seek explanation to gain the required knowledge and lessons for the implementation of sound local administration in Sierra Leone.
The leader of the team and the Chairman of the Kenema District Council, Mr. Mohamed Amadu Sesay, said the purpose of their visit was to study and understand the best practices in the trends of Local Governance and Decentralisation in Ghana particularly in Devolution, Waste Management, and Revenue Mobilisation.
In a presentation, the team were briefed on the overview of the Local Government Service structure, system and procedures as pertained in Ghana.
Among the pertinent issues discussed at the Assemblies visited were measures and efforts towards Revenue Mobilization on property rates by local authorities; Rural Development through the establishment of friendly ties between the central, local governments and traditional authorities; and funding of infrastructural development by Assemblies. Discussion on waste management focused on the practice of Source Separation of bulky waste from landfill sites through third-party Waste Management Companies.
The team also visited the Adentan Waste to Wages (Adwawa) Recycling Demonstration Centre and had a very interactive session with the Management of the facility. The team were also sensitised on the need to adopt waste plastic recycling to reduce plastic waste volume at landfill sites.
According to Management of the Centre, the project aims to combat unemployment and to ensure a clean and health environment in the Municipality. They encouraged the Sierra Leonean officials to adopt that for the inclusion of good governance in Seirra Leone.
The leader of the delegation, Mr. Mohamed Amadu Sesay expressed the appreciation of his team to the Head of Service and his management for the opportunity. He also commended the Municipal Chief Executives and staff of the Assemblies visited for their warm reception and the vital information they shared with the team.