For decades, leadership at the district assembly level in Ghana was largely reserved for elderly individuals, mostly retired civil servants or respected traditional leaders. The belief was that with age came wisdom, experience, and the ability to make sound governance decisions.
However, a new wave of youthful leadership is emerging, particularly in the Bolgatanga Municipality and the Kassena-Nankana West District, where young people are increasingly stepping up to take leadership roles.
This shift is not only reshaping local governance but also challenging the long-held notion that experience outweighs innovation and energy in leadership. The presence of young assembly members has sparked a renewed sense of activism, accountability, and development, proving that youth inclusion in governance is not only necessary but also beneficial for the growth of local communities.
Among the young assembly members in the Bolgatanga Municipality is Emmanuel Ayamga, a teacher by profession who is currently serving his second term as the assemblyman for the Tindonmolgo-Pobaga Electoral Area.
Interestingly, Emmanuel never envisioned following in his father’s footsteps, despite his father being a former assemblyman for the same electoral area. It was the persistent encouragement from the youth in his community that convinced him to contest the 2019 District Assembly Elections.
“We were having a funeral and a group came asking if I would contest the assembly election. But I told them to give me time to think about it. So, I contacted my father who was once an assembly member and he offered me his support. So decided to contest and when it got to campaign season, some of the youth mobilized resources and supported me.
After winning by a huge margin, Emmanuel embarked on a journey of community service, lobbying for projects, and helping resolve disputes.
“Together with the community, we started a community health center and later became stranded. I wrote letters to the MP [Isaac Adongo] and he supported us to complete it. However, the place is too small to contain the number of clients recorded daily,” he stated.
One of his notable achievements includes lobbying for the extension of pipe-borne water connections to homes.
“Our assemblyman has been supportive especially, we the women. There has never been an instance that we call upon him and he disappointed us. Water was a challenge to us but when they were extending pipe-borne water, he made sure that he informed all houses to connect,” Diana Nsobila, a resident of Tindonmolgo.
Another resident, Martin Asombono said the assemblyman recently led the police to raid some youth engaged in the sale and smoking of marijuana.
Despite leading a cosmopolitan community with diverse socio-economic classes, Emmanuel is not intimidated by the responsibility. Instead, he is passionate about delivering on his mandate.
Another young leader making an impact is Desmond Awine Aniah, the assemblyman for Yorogo in the Bolgatanga Municipality. Unlike Emmanuel, Desmond’s leadership journey began at a young age. He was a class prefect at Afalia Primary School, where he developed a passion for service.
As a Prison Officer by profession, Desmond says that his role as an assemblyman has opened doors for him that he wouldn’t have accessed otherwise. His achievements include lobbying for the drilling of seven boreholes in the community, significantly improving access to clean drinking water.
“I had water for the community which I can count up to 7 boreholes but that is still not enough. When it came to the fight against crime, I had to patrol with the police to flush out the black sheep so that the sanity of the community would be restored,” he indicated.
However, his leadership has not been without challenges. Leading a community predominantly made up of elderly residents, Desmond has faced threats due to community disputes.
“I want to arrest stray animals and one elder man threatened me that the stray animals are for the shrine and any attempt to arrest them, I risk losing my life,” he recalled.
But despite these hurdles, he remains committed to serving his people. His community members describe him as a proactive leader.
“His achievement in resolving family disputes cannot be measured and that is one major thing that we vote for them,” says Seth Azusiyine, a resident of Yorogo.
Another resident from the Yorogo community, Margate Baba says water was a challenge to the community but through the efforts of the assemblyman, some boreholes were drilled in the community. “The crime rate in the community has been reduced through his effort because he constantly patrols in the community at night with the police service. He has also helped in settling disputes between us and our husbands,” she added.
The Presiding Member for the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, Stephen Abelimah Akugre, noted that the majority of assembly members in the municipality are young. While he did not provide exact figures, he acknowledged that those between the ages of 20-30 years are the most vibrant contributors during assembly discussions.
The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly consists of 27 elected members and 12 appointed members, including two women and one representative from the disability community. However, their tenure was cut short on January 8, 2025, barely a year after being sworn into office, due to the revocation of appointments following the change of government. Despite their short-lived tenure, the impact of youth in governance was visible.
“The youthful ones, from 25 to 30 upwards are vocal, articulate, and vibrant. In fact, they are very good,” Mr. Akugre indicated.
Despite women forming the majority of the population in the Bolgatanga Municipality—73,257 females compared to 66,607 males (2021 Census)—only two women were appointed as government representatives between 2022 and 2024.
One of them was Augustina Atiah. At the assembly, Madam Atiah was an outspoken advocate for issues affecting women and children. She observed that male assembly members often paid little attention to matters concerning women and children, prompting her to speak up whenever such discussions arose.
“You know, our males, they talk little about that. But that was a time when I would talk so much and plead. And once you are a female and you are pleading, they will give you the audience,” she explained.
Despite her contributions, Madam Atiah faced several institutional and systemic challenges. One major issue was the low representation of women in the assembly and its various subcommittees.
“We expected that in every sub-committee, we would have a representation of women. But because we were not many, you’d find some sub-committees without a single woman,” she lamented.
This lack of female representation, she said, resulted in a situation where women’s voices were missing in crucial decision-making processes.
Another disturbing practice she discovered was the inclusion of female names on sub-committee lists for compliance purposes, even when those women were not actively involved in decision-making.
“You’d see reports listing names of women who were never there. When questioned, they [assembly authorities] would tell you that was just how things were done,” she revealed.
For Madam Atiah, the solution to these challenges lies in increasing the number of women in local governance. She firmly believes that having more women in decision-making spaces would create a support system where their issues are adequately addressed.
However, the Presiding Member expressed concern that the appointed representative of persons with disabilities struggled to effectively contribute to assembly discussions due to a language barrier.
“The last appointment of a disabled person was having language deficiency. He was not educated and when you appoint people like, they are only having a representation but their concerns may not be heard. Even though the local language is accepted, someone who can’t express himself well in the English language may feel too shy to speak. The disability is always bringing one appointee and that is not enough,” he mentioned.
The Kassena-Nankana West District saw a similar trend, with all 46 elected assembly members being men. Among the 20 appointed members, only three were women, and one represented persons with disabilities. This low representation of women and persons with disabilities in local governance has sparked concerns among advocates for inclusive governance. The immediate past Presiding Member for the Kassena-Nankana West District, Hilary Aniakwo, has called for increased representation of women and persons with disabilities at the assembly level.
“Women, when they are presenting an issue to all of us in the general house, it’s always touching. When a woman is talking in the assembly, it is not always personal, but the women always talk for everybody. The men always talk about issues relating to their electoral area but the women talk about general. It is just unfortunate that there are not always many in the assembly and I think something needs to be done about that,” he observed.
One of the biggest challenges young assembly members faced is the lack of resources to implement projects in their electoral areas. Many of them enter office with ambitious promises, only to realize that funding remains a significant hurdle. Hilary Aniakwo, the former Presiding Member for Kassena-Nankana West, advised aspiring assembly members to be realistic with their campaign promises, as the assembly system has financial limitations.
After the revocation of government appointees under President Mahama on January 8th, 2025, plans are underway to appoint some individuals who will assist in confirming the yet-to-be-appointed chief executives of the various assemblies across the country.
This appointment is always made by the governing party. The Chiana-Paga Constituency Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dickson Adiali Ayagitam, has justified the appointment of 20 government appointees to the Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly, emphasizing the need for a balanced representation of various groups within the district.
According to Mr. Ayagitam, special groups such as chiefs and traditionalists are given slots in the appointments to ensure their voices are heard in local governance. Women’s representation is also prioritized to enhance gender inclusivity in decision-making at the assembly level.
When asked whether the selection process is guided by specific quotas, he stated that while they met the requirement for women’s representation, they could not meet the expected percentage for PWDs due to limited applicants from that category.
“We have persons with disabilities in the district, but there are many dynamics that go into these appointments. Sometimes, the availability of qualified individuals who fit the criteria affects representation. It’s supposed to be non-partisan, but for all we know, political affiliation is considered in the appointments. Elections are open to everyone, but when it comes to appointments, it is necessary to select individuals who align with the ruling party’s vision for development,” he explained.
The Upper East Regional President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD), Mark Akubire Atiah expressed concern that the disability community is often not consulted before PWD appointments are made to assemblies. Mr. Atiah revealed that in the last assembly, the GFD had submitted a name for consideration in the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, but the nomination was dismissed without consultation. Instead, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Rex Asanga, appointed a different candidate, citing the need for a female representative from the PWD community.
The GFD president expressed frustration that appointments are often made without input from the disability community. He cited an example in the Kassena-Nankana West district, where a woman was appointed to represent PWDs without the knowledge of the GFD leadership.
“For the Kassena-Nankana West District, the GFD president didn’t even know the woman who was appointed. I had to trace and find out who she was. We are supposed to be consulted before these appointments are done. But that has not been the case. If the Bolgatanga MCE wanted a female representative, he could have asked us for a suitable candidate instead of making a decision without our input,” he lamented.
Efforts to enhance youth, women, and persons with disability participation in governance have been bolstered by RISE-GHANA, which is implementing the HEARD (Heard Everywhere and Represented Daily) project with support from NORSAAC and other like-minded NGOs.
The HEARD project aims to promote the voices, participation, and inclusion of rural vulnerable youth and women in Ghana’s governance processes, particularly in the Northern, Upper West, and Upper East Regions. The project focuses on addressing systemic barriers that hinder the participation of youth, women, and persons with disabilities in decision-making structures.
Through capacity building, advocacy, and solidarity actions, the HEARD project seeks to empower young people and women to take leadership roles beyond elected or appointed positions, extending to technical leadership roles in governance.
The Executive Director of Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment (RISE)-Ghana, Awal Ahmed Kariama, has emphasized the urgent need for greater inclusion of women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in leadership positions. He attributed the low representation of these groups to a lack of awareness and confidence in the processes involved in seeking leadership roles.
“Many women and PWDs have the potential to lead, but due to limited awareness of the procedures and a lack of self-confidence, they often shy away from contesting for office,” he noted.
Speaking on A1 Radio after the airing of a documentary on inclusive governance, Mr. Kariama explained that cultural barriers and societal biases have contributed to the exclusion of women and PWDs from governance. He stated that these negative cultural perceptions continue to suppress their participation, reinforcing the idea that they belong in the background rather than in decision-making roles.
“Our society has been structured in a way that undermines underrepresented groups like women and PWDs,” he stated. “We need to change this mindset and create a system where everyone has equal opportunities to lead.”
The pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 requires efforts to ensure inclusive governance at all levels, particularly at the district assembly level. Achieving the SDGs’ core objectives of ending poverty, reducing inequalities, ensuring quality education, and promoting gender equality will be impossible if key decision-making spaces remain dominated by one demographic group while excluding women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Despite constituting a significant portion of the population, women, PWDs, and youth continue to be marginalized in local governance structures, particularly in Ghana’s district assemblies. This exclusion from decision-making processes not only undermines democratic principles but also hinders holistic development at the grassroots level.
This report was produced with funding support from RISE-Ghana which is implementing the HEARD project with support from NORSAAC and its partners, which had no say in editorial content.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
