Ghana's Parliament
Some Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed displeasure about the way huge sums of funds from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) had been spent lately on sanitation by the various metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
Consequently, they called on the government through the ministry of local government and rural development (MLGRD) to review the existing mode of disbursement in order to harmonise the various approaches being used in fighting the sanitation problem in the country.
The MPs could not hide their discontent when commenting on the annual report of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the year 2014 on the floor of the House presented by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development.
The chairman of the committee noted with worry the amount of monies being spent on sanitation in various forms and models from the DACF.
According to him, the situation did not only deny assemblies the needed funds to tackle sanitation challenges based on respective local needs, but also the disconnected and uncoordinated nature of the various approaches did not augur well for comprehensive and systematic resolution of the sanitation problems in the country.
A total sum of GHC127,359,270.00 out of GHC828,663,950.00 received by the office of the administrator of the Fund in the year 2014 was spent on sanitation related issues only.
The breakdown of the money was given as follows; sanitation/waste management – GHC51,737,739.00, sanitation guards – GHC22,386,739.00 and national sanitation/highways – GHC53,234,792.00.
Another area the committee found disheartening was the late release of the fund by the ministry of finance and economic planning.
And according to the chairman of the parliamentary select committee on MLGRD, the situation did not only stifle programmes and activities of MMDAs, but also undermined the spirit of the decentralisation process.
He explained, for example, that the total receipts of funds from the ministry of finance and economic planning in the year 2014 covered the third and fourth quarters of the preceding year, 2013, whiles the year under review received only the first and second quarters.
He disclosed that the administrator of the fund in the year 2014 received GHC828,663,950.00.
