Ayariga pledges to advocate increased state funding for traditional authorities

Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, has pledged to advocate for greater government budgetary support for traditional authorities in Ghana.

Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday, August 27, 2026, in Parliament, Ayariga stated that he would work to secure increased funding for the chieftaincy institution.

"The chieftaincy institution is perhaps, if not the most important, one of the most important constitutionally guaranteed establishments. And we have in the constitution assigned very important responsibilities to the chieftaincy institution. They are both a legislative body and an adjudicatory institution, from the traditional council level to the paramountcy to the regional house of chiefs to the national house of chiefs," he said.

"...And so, if we resource them adequately, I believe that this country will do far, far better than we are performing now. What I can assure you is that I will try and get the Minister of Finance to make adequate budgetary provision for the chieftaincy institution," he added.

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He further indicated that he would explore opportunities for revenue mobilisation at the local government level to help strengthen traditional authorities.

"But I believe also that there is a huge potential for revenue mobilisation within the local government setup itself," Ayariga said during the vetting session.

"There are so many fees, levies, charges, rates that we are supposed to be collecting what we are not collecting. If we collected those ones, there will be enough resources to support all sectors that are performing critical roles at the local level. Chiefs do perform a very, very critical role at the local and regional levels up to the national house of chiefs level," he further noted.

"...And so, I will explore, one, getting government increased allocation," he added.

Watch his comments below

“I will push for increased government funding for the traditional authorities.”

Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, says he will work to secure increased budgetary support for traditional authorities while exploring revenue… pic.twitter.com/axoMjeqWNZ

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