MP exposes government's GH¢6 billion debt to district assemblies common fund

Benjamin Komla Kpodo, Deputy Ranking Member on the Local Government Committee of Parliament, has unveiled that the government owes the District Assemblies Common Fund a staggering sum exceeding GH¢6 billion due to delayed fund releases by the Ministry of Finance.

The Ho Central MP pointed out that the Ministry of Finance's failure to disburse the Common Fund on

Read full articlea quarterly basis, as mandated by Article 252(2) of the constitution, constitutes a violation.

Kpodo made these revelations during a discussion on the proposed formula for distributing the DACF for the year 2024 in Parliament, expressing concern over the significant debt accumulation over the past years.

He emphasized, "The Ministry of Finance has been violating the constitution. Article 252(2) clearly states that the disbursement should be done on a quarterly basis, which they were not doing. As we speak now, the Common Fund is being owed some GH¢3.5 billion over the past two years. For 2023, the debt has again risen by another GH¢3 billion. So, I don’t know where the Ministry of Finance is keeping the money meant for the District Assemblies Common Fund."

Responding to the issue, Deputy Finance Minister Abena Osei-Asare acknowledged the arrears owed to the Common Fund and assured the government's commitment to settling them.

"I want to put on record that, Mr. Speaker, yes, we do owe Common Fund some arrears, and we are working very hard to make sure we pay those moneys. But I want to also put on record that we haven’t defaulted, or we haven’t gone against the Supreme Court’s ruling. That is a fact and that I should put on the table. We have come to Finance Committee to explain how we arrive at revenue numbers for DACF. So I just want to put that on the table that we haven’t gone against the ruling of the Supreme Court. But I want to assure the House that we will work together to make sure we clear any outstanding that we have with DACF," she stated.