Development Priorities of Local and Traditional Government Leaders in Ghana: Exploring Implications of Convergences and Divergences for Local Community Development
Development of local communities in Ghana is led by local governance leaders and traditional authorities. The development priorities of local and traditional governance leaders play a crucial role in shaping local community development outcomes. This reflects the fact that community development is achieved through the collective management and allocation of group resources. We investigate the development priorities of local and traditional government leaders to inform context-specific strategies for improving local leadership for the advancement of local communities. The study uses cross-sectional survey to gather data from 370 participants consisting of 132 respondents from Kumasi, 108 from Tamale and 130 from Accra. The research finds the topmost development priorities of traditional government leaders are educational facilities (94.6%), health facilities (49.4%), security (49.4%), road infrastructure (48.8%) and sanitation and waste management (45.2%). On the other hand, local government leaders identify infrastructure (57.2%), educational facilities (50.5%), electricity and street lighting (49.5%), and security (42.1%) as their topmost priority areas for development. Why are these amenities still an essential need of the community? The research believes the divergence in the weight of development priority as presented by the two governance institutions affects the collaborative effort that is needed to drive the advancement of the local community. We thereby call for a synchronisation of development objectives that blends differing interests to arrive at a collective agenda that can speed up growth and development in the community. The fact that there is some level of alignment in development priorities gives room for dialogue and the possibility of creating that synergy of ideas and skills for growth.
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