Naa Torshie exposes weakness in Parliament’s oversight role over DACF

It may not sound too palatable to the Parliament of Ghana but that is the reality.

When the newly appointed Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), Hon. Irene Naa Torshie Addo, appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, for public hearing over her nomination, the legislature’s oversight responsibility over the DACF was brought to question.

As she dazzled her way to the admiration of the Committee and all those present as well as those who were glued to their seats at home and various workplaces, as the event rolled live on some of the electronic media, little did the Committee know that the nominee has some ‘explosives’ under her sleeves, which when released, will shock the entire country, especially those who have been following the operations of the District Assemblies.

By the time Hon. Irene Naa Torshie was discharged, the Committee was left puzzled about the revelation made by the former MP for Tema West constituency.

It all started when a Member of the Committee, Hon. Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, quizzed the nominee as to what she would do to ensure that the constitutional provision – Article 252 (2) is strictly adhered to, to make sure that “Assemblies get what they deserve and MPs also get what they deserve.”

Article 252 (2) states that “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament shall annually make provision for the allocation of not less than five percent of the total revenues of Ghana to the District Assemblies for development; and that amount shall be paid into the District Assemblies Common Fund in quarterly installments.”

As the members listened with rapt attention, Hon. Naa Torshie revealed how the Finance Ministry has for some years been breaching the constitutional provision, Article 252 (2) much to the detriment of the District Assemblies.

“Mr. Chairman, I am going to work with Parliament on that. I think that there has to be a Committee comprising Local Government, Ministry of Finance, Civil Society Organizations, and NGOs among others. The first thing is that we need always to determine how much should have come into the Common Fund whether 5% or 7.5% at each particular point. We need to determine that and we need to fight the gap. While I was a Member of Parliament, I never heard anybody asking the finance Minister whether what he ever paid was up to the 5%. So, they just took what they got and you would realize they never even got up to 5%. I am going to lobby Members of Parliament on that – send you information on what I get and what I think is the percentage and ask you to find means through questions or whatever it is … I will liaise with the my Minister to work on that when approved as the Administrator of the DACF.”

Her response came to the Committee as a surprise.

The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, summed up the Committee’s frustrations:

“I am not sure this report has formally been made to the House. It is a matter we should all take very seriously and urge you to provide the data maybe for the past five years, to persuade us if indeed that is the case then we will standby to ensure that the Finance Ministry refunds the difference.”

This did not end there as some Members carried their frustrations to the plenary.

During deliberations over the 13 report of the Appointments Committee which recommended the approval of Hon. Naa Torshie Addo by consensus on Wednesday, June 22, 2017, the honorable Member of Ho Central, Benjamin Kpodo expressed worry over the issue of the shortfall in the releases to the DACF amounts to GH?1.2 billion.

But surprisingly, he attributed the issue to lack of information supplied to the House without admitting that Parliament has not done much in their oversight responsibility over releases to the DACF.

“Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue. It is serious because we were informed that all the Assemblies depend heavily on funds that come from the DACF. But over the years, the amount that has been budgeted and due the Assemblies have not been released. Apart from the cap which has become problematic, even what has been capped does not go down to the Assemblies. This has happened because of lack of information. The Bible says that for lack of information knowledge my people perish. The Assemblies have been perishing because the Common Fund Administrator does not give full facts about what has been given to him for onward transfers to the Assemblies. Mr. Speaker, I have a document here which shows that even the 7.5% which was approved in the budget never got released. It has been happening from time immemorial. When you look at the figures, you will realize that the DACF has been shortchanged for about GH?1.2billion over a number of years,” he noted.

To avoid the recurrence of the issue, Hon. Kpodo urged the new Administrator of the DACF to liaise with the Local Government Committee of Parliament to ensure that the actual amount for disbursement is released by the Finance Ministry.