Government owes District Assemblies Common Fund over GH¢7 billion – Expert

Amon Kotei, a former assembly member and local governance expert, says the government owes the various assemblies over GHC7 billion in arrears.

He said the finance ministry’s refusal to pay monies due to the Common Fund has caused the arrears to increase to over GHC7 billion.

He expressed concern about delays in releasing annual allocations to the Fund, despite the fact that the government had already received those funds in the form of taxes.

Another challenge he has observed under the Akufo-Addo-led administration is the reduction in Common Fund allocation from 7.5% under the Mahama administration to 5%, which he considers unconstitutional.

He claimed that even with the 5%, the government owes arrears to the assemblies totalling more than 7 billion Ghana cedis.

He went on to say that the government’s decision to politicise the local government system but failure to do so has caused it to abandon the various assemblies and deprive them of necessary resources.

"According to the constitution, the common fund should not be less than 5% for the various districts. Before Nana Addo took over, Mahama had increased it to 7.5 percent, but this administration has reduced it to 5%. However, even after the reduction, the government owes the various assemblies GHC7 billion.”

The government is required by law to contribute 5% of the country’s total revenue to the development of MMDAs.

The statutory amount is expected to be paid into a district assembly fund.

Article 252 of the 1992 constitution requires the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund to present to Parliament a formula for the distribution of monies allocated by Parliament to the Assemblies each year.

The Fund is then distributed among the Assemblies according to a formula proposed by the Fund’s Administrator and approved by Parliament.

According to him, the situation has deprived the assemblies of the resources they require to embark on projects.

"The assemblies lack the resources to function. The MCEs and other staff members arrive at their offices with no work to do. They are only deployed when there is a nationwide vaccination or tree-planting exercise. However, the core function of their work has been hampered due to a lack of funds.”