Harnessing Indigenous Institutions in Decentralized Governance of Public Services

The governance of public services has become increasingly important to sustained economic development and spatial management in Sub-Saharan cities. Therefore, administration of public services that facilitates a paradigmatic shift towards participatory local development that prescribes interaction between various institutional actors and stakeholders is key to management of these urban areas. This study examines opportunities for institutional expansion of governance, specifically, household solid waste collection in Accra. It solicits the perspective of end users in low and middle-income neighborhoods, District Assembly representatives, who are elected members of Ghana’s decentralized government structure, and chiefs, the highest tier of leadership within the indigenous political system. Through the collection of primary data, this research investigates the legitimacy of an informal institutional actor to suggest new institutional arrangements that could influence the delivery of household waste collection in middle and low-income neighborhoods of Accra.