The Deputy Minority Whip in Ghana’s Parliament and Member of Parliament for Banda, Ibrahim Ahmed, has hinted of a possible blockage of the budget of the President Akufo-Addo led Government for the 2022 fiscal year by the Minority in Parliament, if the Finance Minister fails to release statutory fund accruing to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for onward disbursement to the MMDAs in the country.
The provisions of Article 252 (2) of the country’s constitution indicates that an allocation of not less than five percent of the total revenues of Ghana shall be paid into the District Assemblies Common Fund in quarterly instalments for the development of these Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
Yet the Government has delayed in the release of the accrued funds to the DACF for over a year, and has therefore piled up arrears to the tune of over GHC 2 Billion to the fund dating as far back as the fourth quarter of 2019.
According to the influential member on the Minority Leadership Bench, all persuasive means has so far been used to get the Finance Minister to do the needful to no avail.
He said several appeals by the Minority group for the Government to release the locked-up funds to the Administrator of the DACF for onward disbursement to the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the country, has so far fallen on death ears.
“We have no other choice but to adopt this rout. The Last time we threaten not to approve the 2021 Budget if the Common Fund for the fourth quarter of 2020 is not disbursed, the Finance Minister promised to process it as soon as it is approved; but he didn’t. He gave the same promise during the Mid-Year Budget Review, yet again he did not release it.
“We are returning to Parliament from next week. The presentation and approval of the Government’s Fiscal Policy for the coming year is high on the agenda. If the release is not made to the Common Fund, we are serving notice that we will not approve of the budget,” he cautioned.
Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed made the comment during a press conference organized in Parliament on Thursday, October 21, 2021 by the Minority Caucus on the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development on the malfunctional status of the District Assemblies Common Fund.
The purpose of the press conference was to highlight the general malfunctional status of the DACF and the suspected misapplication of the constitutionally created fund by the Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
According to the message of the Press Conference addressed by the Deputy Ranking Member on the Committee, Benjamin Kpodo, the DACF has been rendered completely impotent.
“The monies due to the fund have not been given to the Fund to enable it to carry out its mandate as abundantly outlined by the Constitution and relevant Act,” he observed.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
