Minister calls for upward adjustment of District Assembly Common Fund

Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, a deputy Local Government Minister, has called for an upward adjustment of the 7.5 per cent allocation of the total national revenue to the district assemblies to enable them roll out more development projects.

He said the current percentage allocated to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) should be raised to 10 or 12 per cent for the provision of more schools, hospitals, police stations and other projects.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at a two-day workshop for members of the Parliamentary Press Corps at Elmina in the Central region.

The meeting, sponsored by the Office of the Administrator of the DACF, was under the theme, “strengthening grassroots participation in governance and accountability: the role of the media, Members of Parliaments and District Chief Executives.”

Mr Afriyie Ankrah told the meeting that the district assemblies continue to “overly depend on government transfer of financial resource to the neglect of mobilizing local revenue.”

“It is disturbing to note that especially the more urbanized assemblies are still unable to mobilize adequate revenue from properties and economic activities within their areas of jurisdiction.”

Mr Edwin Arthur, Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps, said the workshop, which is an annual event, has become the single national platform where critical stakeholders such as MPs, DCEs, media practitioners and the Administrator of the Fund, meet to dispassionately discuss crucial issues surrounding the disbursement and utilization of the Common Fund.

He touched on some disturbing trends in some districts such as contractors who do shoddy work and revenue collectors who misappropriate revenues collected and called for solutions to these problems.

By Eunice Menka