As of early 2003, Ghana was divided into 10 regions: Eastern, Western, Ashanti, Northern, Volta, Central, Upper East, Upper West, Brong-Ahafo, and Greater Accra. In 1994, the 10 regions were further subdivided into 267 local administrative units. Local government in Ghana has traditionally been subject to the central government because responsibilities between the two were not well-defined. In late 1982, the government announced that town and village councils, which had been dissolved after the 1981 coup, would be run by people's and workers' defense committees. They were replaced by Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in 1984. The Local Government Law of 1988 and the Local Government Act of 1993 further empowered local governments, and set the stage for efforts to assist them with development planning, working with civil society, and less dependence on central government for resources.
Elections for 103 district assemblies, 4 municipal assemblies, and 3 metropolitan assemblies were conducted in March 1994. In April 2000, the World Bank approved a US $11-million credit for infrastructure development in Ghana's smaller cities. The Urban 5 Project is intended to support Ghana's decentralization program through capacity building, improvement of urban infrastructure, and delivery of services at the levels of the district assemblies. The project is part of an 11-year program. Local assembly elections were held in August 2002; 14,079 candidates competed in the elections, which were peaceful but marked by low voter turnout.