District Assemblies must look beyond Common Fund to finance local development – Dan Botwe

The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Daniel Kwaku Botwe has urged local government officials to look beyond the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) to seek financial resources to develop their areas.

According to Mr. Botwe, although the government will constantly ensure the release of the DACF, government representatives at local assemblies should be able to utilize the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to finance local development.

He acknowledged that various assemblies mobilize more Internally Generated Funds (IGF) than what they receive as a common fund from the government.

Speaking at the inauguration and swearing-in of elected and appointed members of the 9th Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly in the Ashanti Region on February 12 said; “Assemblies should be resourceful. The IGFs all stay in the Assemblies. We should begin to question how judiciously the revenues the Assemblies raise are spent. The Common Fund which is supposed to come every quarter is something that has not been satisfactory over the years. So, as the Executive arm of government, we admit that gap and we will ensure that the Finance Ministry releases the money as regularly as it should,” he pledged.

Meanwhile, the newly sworn-in Assembly Members have appealed to the government to ensure the timely release of the DACF.

According to them, the continuous delay in the release of the fund impedes local community development.

“Without the common fund, how can we push for development in our electoral areas? Our people are already looking up to us to improve certain things. We are ready to do our part, so the Minister should also tell the Finance Ministry to do their part by releasing the fund on time,” one of the assembly members noted.

The District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) is created under section 252 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. It is a minimum of 5% of the national revenue set aside to be shared among all the 259 District Assemblies in Ghana at every quarter with a formula approved by Parliament. This is meant to ensure equitable distribution of national resources across the country.

However, for more than one year, most Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies have not received their share of the DACF. This, according to some assembly members has led to a halt in many community projects.

“Our main concern at Asafo has to do with the absence of the police station. It was put in the assemblies’ action plan in 2021, rolled over in 2022, then in 2023 and we are now in 2024. Anytime I follow up, I’m told the DACF has not been released. It’s a bit frustrating because the need of Asafo is yet to be fixed”, Assembly Member for the Asafo electoral area, Ernest Okai noted.