By Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Accra, Aug. 11, GNA – Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, has called for predictable financing to implement Ghana’s new decentralisation policy.
He said adequate funding was critical to enabling Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to deliver essential services and translate decentralisation reforms into tangible development outcomes.
Mr Ibrahim made the call on Monday in Accra at the opening of a two-day National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance, following Cabinet’s approval of the National Decentralisation Policy Strategy Framework 2026-2030.
He said the five-year framework, which focuses on accountability, citizen participation and improved service delivery, would not achieve its objectives without the resources required for implementation.
Mr Ibrahim said MMDAs faced increasing demands for sanitation infrastructure, flood mitigation and climate-resilient services, requiring stronger financial support.
He noted that although the Government had increased the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) allocation from GH¢5.3 billion in 2025 to GH¢8.7 billion in 2026, the 10 per cent allocation for sanitation remained inadequate to address the country’s infrastructure and environmental challenges.
The Minister thus urged the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders to provide additional resources through central government support and public-private partnerships to complement the assemblies’ internally generated funds.
“Policy intent alone does not deliver clean toilets, safe water or functioning drains,” he said, stressing that financing must accompany capacity building, planning and accountability.
The dialogue, organised by the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC), brought together regional ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), traditional leaders, local government experts, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
It was held on the theme: “Resetting Democratic Decentralisation for Accountable Public Service Delivery and Accelerated Local Development.”
Mr Ibrahim said the Ministry had issued fee-fixing guidelines for 2026-2030 to establish transparent standards for fees, levies and charges, enabling assemblies to strengthen internally generated funds without imposing undue burdens on residents.
He also called for urgent investment in flood prevention, saying desilting and drainage works should be completed before the rainy season rather than waiting for flooding before resources were released.
Mr Ibrahim said the Ministry was working with the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) to strengthen planning standards, discourage development in flood-prone areas and support MMDAs to incorporate flood mitigation measures into their medium-term development plans.
He called for coordinated action among MMDAs, regional coordinating councils, the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Water Limited, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, development partners, civil society, and traditional and religious authorities to support implementation of the policy.
The Minister assured MMDAs of the Government’s commitment to providing them with the policy, fiscal and oversight frameworks necessary to deliver on their mandates.
Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education, said adequate funding for decentralised structures was also essential to deepening democratic decentralisation and improving local service delivery.
He said Ghana’s decentralisation system, anchored in the 1988 legal framework and reinforced by the 1992 Constitution, required stronger financial and institutional support to achieve its objectives.
Mr Iddrisu advocated a gradual increase in the DACF from five to 7.5 per cent, as contained in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto, saying additional allocations could support the devolution of health and education services to the local level.
He said the proposed increase would also strengthen the capacity of assemblies to recruit health professionals and support education delivery, while deepening accountability and citizen participation.
Mr Iddrisu also called for the election of MMDCEs to deepen democratic decentralisation, saying the current appointive system should be replaced with competitive elections to allow citizens to determine their local leaders.
He said whether the elections should be partisan or non-partisan required national consensus.
“The only thing we can do to elevate decentralisation to a higher height is to make the elections of MMDCEs elective and move away from the appointive principle into competitive democratic elections open to the Ghanaian public to determine who their MMDCE is,” he emphasised.
Dr Gameli Hoedoafia, Executive Secretary of the IMCC, called for a reset of Ghana’s decentralisation system to prioritise democratic participation, accountable public service delivery and accelerated local development.
He said the next phase of decentralisation should move beyond creating institutions and transferring functions to focus on service quality, institutional responsiveness and tangible development outcomes.
Dr Hoedoafia cautioned against allowing the framework to become another policy document without effective implementation and called for a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to decentralisation.
“Policy approval is not our finish line. It is our starting point. The real test now lies in coordination, effective implementation and delivery,” Dr Hoedoafia stressed.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio CommeyÂ
[email protected]Â Â