Constitution- Local Government Change
\nModel Local Government Code, 2025
\nAn Act of Parliament
\nTo give full effect to Chapter Twenty-A of the Constitution on Village, Town, and City Municipalities; to establish service standards, governance structures, financial rules, and transition procedures for local governments; and to provide for related matters.<\/p>\n
Short Title
\nAmendment of Article 240
\nAmendment of Article 241
\nAmendment of Article 242
\nReplacement of Article 243
\nInsertion of new Chapter Twenty-A \u2013 Villages, Towns, and Cities
\nAmendment of Article 245
\nAmendment of Article 252
\nTransitional Provisions<\/p>\n
Entitled:
\nAn Act to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992 to provide for a three-tier local government system comprising Villages, Towns, and Cities as foundational local governments; to redefine the role of District\/County Governments as coordinating authorities; to restructure the District Assemblies Common Fund into a Local Governments Common Fund; and to provide for related matters.<\/p>\n
Section 1 \u2013 Short Title<\/strong> Section 2 \u2013 Amendment of Article 240<\/strong> Section 3 \u2013 Amendment of Article 241<\/strong> Section 4 \u2013 Amendment of Article 242<\/strong> Section 5 \u2013 Replacement of Article 243<\/strong> Section 6 \u2013 Insertion of New Chapter Twenty-A<\/strong> 243A \u2013 Definitions<\/strong> 243B \u2013 Minimum Services<\/strong> 243C \u2013 Governance<\/strong> 243D \u2013 Legislative Authority<\/strong> 243E \u2013 Finance<\/strong> 243F \u2013 Boundaries and Reclassification<\/strong> Section 7 \u2013 Amendment of Article 245<\/strong> Section 8 \u2013 Amendment of Article 252<\/strong> Section 9 \u2013 Transitional Provisions<\/strong> <\/p>\n ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS<\/strong> PART I \u2013 PRELIMINARY<\/strong> PART II \u2013 CLASSIFICATION AND SERVICE STANDARDS<\/strong> PART III \u2013 GOVERNANCE<\/strong> PART IV \u2013 FINANCE<\/strong> PART V \u2013 ELECTIONS AND PARTICIPATION<\/strong> PART VI \u2013 CAPACITY AND SERVICE DELIVERY<\/strong> PART VII \u2013 TRANSITION<\/strong> PART VIII \u2013 MISCELLANEOUS<\/strong> EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Constitution- Local Government Change Model Local Government Code, 2025 An Act of Parliament To give full effect to Chapter Twenty-A of the Constitution on Village, Town, and City Municipalities; to establish service standards, governance structures, financial rules, and transition procedures for local governments; and to provide for related matters. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3488,"featured_media":5679,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_featured":"","footnotes":""},"access-tier":[],"industry":[],"article-tags":[],"topics":[16,22],"ppma_author":[102],"class_list":["post-5678","articles","type-articles","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topics-public-policy","topics-region-local-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/5678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/5678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"access-tier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/access-tier?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"article-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-tags?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudypos.com\/nbosi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThis Act may be cited as the Constitution of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 2025.<\/p>\n
\nArticle 240 is amended by the insertion immediately after clause (2) of the following new clauses:
\n\u201c(3) The foundational units of local government shall be Village Assemblies, Town Municipalities, and City Municipalities.
\n(4) A District or County Government shall function as a coordinating authority for inter-municipal services and shall not derogate from the executive and legislative autonomy of Village, Town, and City municipalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nClause (3) of Article 241 is repealed and replaced with the following:
\n\u201c(3) A District\/County Government shall be the coordinating authority for inter-municipal functions within its jurisdiction, but the highest political authority within a locality shall be the Village Assembly, Town Municipality, or City Municipality, as the case may be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nArticle 242 is amended\u2014
\n(a) by substituting the words \u201cDistrict Assembly\u201d with \u201cDistrict\/County Council\u201d wherever they occur; and
\n(b) by deleting paragraphs (c) and (d) and substituting the following:
\n\u201c(c) elected representatives of Village Assemblies, Town Municipalities, and City Municipalities within the District\/County;
\n(d) Members of Parliament representing constituencies within the District\/County, who shall not have voting rights; and
\n(e) the District\/County Director appointed under Article 243A.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nArticle 243 is repealed and replaced with the following new Article:
\n\u201c243. District\/County Director
\nThere shall be for each District\/County a District\/County Director, who shall be the professional head of the administration of the District\/County Government.
\nThe District\/County Director shall be appointed through a competitive, merit-based process by the District\/County Council and confirmed by a two-thirds majority of all its members.
\nThe District\/County Director shall serve a single term of six years.
\nThe District\/County Director may be removed from office by a resolution supported by two-thirds of all members of the District\/County Council on grounds of stated misbehavior or incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThere is inserted after Chapter Twenty of the Constitution a new Chapter to be numbered Chapter Twenty-A as follows:<\/p>\nCHAPTER TWENTY-A \u2013 VILLAGES, TOWNS, AND CITIES<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nA Village Assembly is a rural or peri-urban settlement with a population of not less than two thousand and not more than ten thousand.
\nA Town Municipality is an urban settlement with a population of not less than ten thousand and not more than one hundred thousand.
\nA City Municipality is a metropolitan settlement with a population exceeding one hundred thousand.
\nParliament shall by law prescribe additional criteria, including economic activity and institutional infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\nEach Village Assembly, Town Municipality, and City Municipality shall provide and maintain public services prescribed by law appropriate to its classification.<\/p>\n
\nA Village Assembly shall consist of elected members and representatives of traditional authorities and shall appoint a professional Village Manager as executive head.
\nA Town Municipality shall consist of directly elected councilors and shall appoint a professional Town Manager as executive head.
\nA City Municipality shall consist of directly elected councilors and shall be headed by a Mayor elected by universal adult suffrage for a single non-renewable term of six years.<\/p>\n
\nVillage Assemblies, Town Municipalities, and City Municipalities shall have power to make by-laws consistent with the Constitution and national law.<\/p>\n
\nEach Village Assembly, Town Municipality, and City Municipality shall receive direct allocations from the Local Governments Common Fund.
\nThey may impose and collect local rates, fees, and charges as provided by law.<\/p>\n
\nThe Electoral Commission shall demarcate boundaries and reclassify settlements in accordance with prescribed criteria.<\/p>\n
\nArticle 245 is amended by substituting for the functions of District Assemblies the following:
\n\u201cDistrict\/County Governments shall\u2014
\n(a) coordinate regional planning and development across municipalities;
\n(b) manage bulk and inter-municipal services including regional roads, landfills, and district hospitals; and
\n(c) provide technical support to Village Assemblies, Town Municipalities, and City Municipalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe words \u201cDistrict Assemblies Common Fund\u201d are deleted and replaced with \u201cLocal Governments Common Fund\u201d wherever they occur.
\nInsert after clause (2):
\n\u201c(3) Moneys from the Fund shall be distributed directly to Village Assemblies, Town Municipalities, and City Municipalities in accordance with a formula approved by Parliament, having regard to population, need, and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAll District Chief Executives shall vacate office within six months of the coming into force of this Act.
\nDistrict\/County Directors shall be appointed within twelve months.
\nThe Electoral Commission shall classify and gazette all settlements within three years.
\nFirst elections for City Mayors shall be held within eighteen months for qualifying settlements.
\nExisting by-laws and contracts shall continue in force until replaced by ordinances of the relevant municipality.<\/p>\nTHE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE, 2025<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nPart I \u2013 Preliminary
\nPart II \u2013 Classification and Service Standards
\nPart III \u2013 Governance
\nPart IV \u2013 Finance
\nPart V \u2013 Elections and Participation
\nPart VI \u2013 Capacity and Service Delivery
\nPart VII \u2013 Transition
\nPart VIII \u2013 Miscellaneous<\/p>\n
\nShort Title
\nThis Act may be cited as the Local Government Code, 2025.
\nInterpretation
\nDefines \u201cVillage Assembly\u201d, \u201cTown Municipality\u201d, \u201cCity Municipality\u201d, \u201cDistrict\/County Government\u201d, \u201cManager\u201d, and \u201cMayor\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nClassification
\nThe Electoral Commission shall classify and reclassify settlements every ten years or as needed.
\nMinimum Services
\n(a) Villages: school, boreholes, CHPS, sanitation, feeder roads.
\n(b) Towns: JHS\/SHS, Health Centre, water system, market, police, fire.
\n(c) Cities: universities, hospitals, transport, sewerage, cultural institutions.<\/p>\n
\nVillage Assemblies \u2013 Elected members + chiefs; Village Manager appointed.
\nTown Municipalities \u2013 Elected council; Town Manager appointed.
\nCity Municipalities \u2013 Elected council; directly elected Mayor (single six-year term).
\nDistrict\/County Governments \u2013 Representatives from municipalities; professional District\/County Director.<\/p>\n
\nLocal Governments Common Fund \u2013 \u22657% of national revenues; formula approved by Parliament; direct allocations to municipalities.
\nOwn-Source Revenues \u2013 property rates, market fees, business permits.
\nAccountability \u2013 Annual budgets; audits by Auditor-General; publication of reports.<\/p>\n
\nNon-Partisan Elections \u2013 No party sponsorship in local polls.
\nRight of Recall \u2013 Electors may recall officials subject to EC regulations.<\/p>\n
\nTraining and Certification \u2013 Establishment of Local Government Service Training Institute; mandatory certification for Managers and Directors.<\/p>\n
\nTransition Timelines \u2013
\nEC classifies settlements within three years.
\nDCE offices abolished.
\nDistrict\/County Directors appointed within twelve months.
\nCity Mayor elections within 18 months.<\/p>\n
\nContinuity of By-Laws \u2013 Existing by-laws remain until replaced.
\nSupremacy of Constitution \u2013 Constitution prevails in case of conflict.<\/p>\n
\nThis Reform Package restructures Ghana\u2019s local government by:
\nEstablishing Village, Town, and City municipalities as foundational governments;
\nTransforming District\/County Governments into coordinators of bulk services;
\nReplacing presidentially appointed DCEs with professional Directors;
\nProviding for directly elected Mayors in Cities;
\nGuaranteeing direct financing to municipalities; and
\nSetting phased transition measures with strong accountability.<\/p>\n