Medium-term development planning processes and effective community engagement: strategies and implications for a fast-growing municipality in Ghana

Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe, University of Ghana
Evans Abban Ewudzie, University of Ghana

The acceptance of decentralization and its participatory planning approach in Ghana indicates that the country has chosen the right path to development with the consultations of its citizens in the drawing up of responsive plans guided by several regulations. Community problems have however persisted in most local government areas in Ghana particularly those experiencing fast urbanisation. Using a mixed method approach and a sample drawn from the Awutu Senya East Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana, this paper seeks to assess how communities are engaged in these processes and the nuances inherent in these processes that may facilitate the better engagement with the community members to solve the myriad of challenges associated with their fast urbanisation. Strategies of engagement employed by the Municipal Assembly were found to still require attention, especially on approaches used during and after the planning consultations. Keywords: Effective Community Participation, Kasoa, Urban Development Planning, Urbanisation