Faculty of local government administration for ILGS

Frederick Asiamah

In the near future, the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) will open a faculty of local government administration to commence teaching and award of degrees and certificates in that discipline, says Dr Callistus Mahama, Deputy Director/Head of Tamale Campus of ILGS.

The Institute also expects to invest in improving and expanding the physical assets of its Accra and Tamale campuses, as well as, modernize in phases, all service delivery processes, establish two additional campuses and increase collaboration with relevant national and international institutions to build networks.

History

The Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) was established in 1999 as a project. However, the passage of the Institute of Local Government Studies Act (Act 647) in 2003 marked the transition of ILGS from a project to a public Institution. The ILGS has two campuses; the Accra campus to cater for the southern sector, and the Tamale campus to take care of the Northern regions with the Brong Ahafo Region inclusive.

The establishment of the ILGS was informed by a vision of becoming a centre of excellence for education, training, research, advisory, consultancy, and information management services responding to the demands of modern local governance through state-of-the art facilities, information, communication technology, and motivated staff.

The mission of the Institute therefore is to strengthen the capacity of District Assemblies, Regional Co-ordinating Councils (RCCs) and other Interested Parties to deliver efficient and effective local governance in Ghana by providing Excellent Management Education, Training and Development, Research and Consultancy, and Information Mobilization and Dissemination Services.

Mandate

The mandate of the Institute is derived from Act 647, according to Dr Mahama. “It is mandated to build the capacities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).”

In doing this, the ILGS undertakes education and training, research and consultancy and information documentation and dissemination, all intended to contribute to the achievement of its vision and mission.

Strong Points

The strengths of the Institute, as enumerated by Dr. Mahama, include a strong human resource base. Besides, external agencies attest to its credibility. Nationally, it is very much recognized and respected. Another strong point of the Institute is that it has the requisite infrastructure base for teaching and learning.

Collaboration

The Institute has partnered and collaborated with and still does with many development partners. Some of them include Ibis West Africa, Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme (G-RAP), German Development Service (DED), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), International Labour Organisation (ILO), and VNG. In addition, ILGS collaborates with all MMDAs, RCCs and many civil society organizations.

Funding

The Institute is self funded. It generates income internally for all its activities. However, a convergence of areas of interest and focus between the ILGS and G-RAP led the Tamale campus of ILGS to submit a proposal to G-RAP to access its Special Project Fund (SPF) component for the implementation of a research project on Women’s Access to the Justice System in Ghana. The project involved ; A Case Study of Northern Ghana and was implemented over a period of eight months spanning 1^st August, 2008 to 30^th March, 2009. G-RAP’s funding for the project totaled US$30,641.00.

Initiatives

The main pre-occupation of the Institute currently is the much-awaited review of twenty years of decentralization in Ghana. To this end, ILGS is in collaboration with a number of organizations, including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Public Agenda to initiate wide ranging policy studies as part of the review.

Past programmes included training programmes for a total of 1,189 participants both on and off campus in 2003. Apart from that, ILGS undertook studies into various aspects of local governance including human resources development, community participation, fiscal decentralisation, information communication technology, socio-cultural dynamics and poverty reduction efforts.

Generally, the Institute undertakes education, research and information-dissemination services in four major areas. The first one is District Development Planning and Management including District Development Plan Formulation, Vision 2020 and the District Assemblies, and Strategic Planning and Management for Local Government. Another major area is Public Private Partnerships for Local Level Development including: District Assemblies and Private Sector Partnerships, and Partnerships between District Assemblies and Small Enterprises.

A third area is Information Management for Local Level Development including: Computer Applications in District Administration and Local Level Development, Management Information Systems, and Information Technology. The last regards Good Governance in Local Government including: Ethics and Values in Local Government, Managing the socio-cultural environment of Local Government, and Non-Governmental Organisations and Local Government Partnerships for effective Governance.

Impacts

“The Institute has impacted in no small way on national policies and programmes,” said the Deputy Director. According to him, ILGS has consistently trained assemblies’ appointees and elected members, chief executives of MMDAs, core assemblies’ staff, conducted several researches the results of which have been insightful and helpful in fine-tuning the decentralization experiment, and organized tailor-made courses in local government financing, and local and regional economic development among others.

Challenges

The Institute is faced with insufficient numbers of staff of requisite caliber. Apart from that, there is challenge with the ‘cinderella status’ of the Institute in public administration. According to Dr Mahama, the ‘cinderella status’ refers to a situation where the ILGS is seen as a public institution in one instance and as a private institution in another instance.

There is also over reliance on state funds to run programmes and limited facilities. Other challenges include “inadequate finances, low staff motivation, over used facilities and inadequate hostel facilities to accommodate our trainees, etc.”

The ILGS in future

The Institute’s immediate plans include building the capacities of its own staff to deliver on the job, becoming an accredited Institution of learning and delivering high quality services among others.