By Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Accra, Aug. 11, GNA – Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) that have met reporting requirements will receive their second-quarter District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) transfers this week.
Most assemblies have complied with the requirements, with four yet to meet the conditions for the release of their funds.
Mr Michael Harry Yamson, Administrator of the DACF, said this at the National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance in Accra on Tuesday.
He said funds for compliant assemblies were ready for transfer, while those that had not met the requirements would have to wait until they submitted the necessary returns.
“Everybody else will get their money between Friday and the following Friday, and those who don’t comply, just wait. Your money is at the Central Bank and whenever you comply, you’ll get it,” he said.
Mr Yamson said the DACF had strengthened its compliance mechanisms to ensure that assemblies submitted their financial returns through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) before transfers were effected.
He said the measure was intended to strengthen financial accountability and ensure that public funds were released to assemblies that met the required reporting standards.
Mr Yamson said the first-quarter transfer process showed that some assemblies delayed compliance, expecting the DACF to release funds despite failing to submit the required returns.
He said the DACF had maintained its position that compliance was necessary before funds could be released.
Mr Yamson also urged assemblies to strengthen their internally generated funds (IGF), saying excessive dependence on DACF transfers could undermine sustainable local development.
He said assemblies could increase revenue through property rates, market levies and other charges linked to economic activities within their jurisdictions.
“It’s a question of looking at your own economic base rigorously and making some tough choices about making sure that the assembly earns its fair share of these economic flows,” he said.
Mr Yamson said stronger local revenue mobilisation formed part of proposals to transform Ghana’s decentralisation system and reduce assemblies’ dependence on central government transfers.
He said the DACF was considering mechanisms to incentivise assemblies to increase their own revenue while rewarding those that made stronger efforts to expand their economic base.
The Fund was also pursuing reforms to improve transparency through digital systems, including the Intellects platform, which brings together financial and operational information on assemblies.
Mr Yamson said the system enabled the DACF to monitor returns, bank reconciliations and development projects, with project information tracked to electoral areas.
“We’ve built a system that is live, that is transparent and that is accurate. Accurate to electoral area.
“Not only that, we will not just see it by district. We will see it by electoral area, so we have a better understanding of where development went. And it’s live, and now, when an assembly is even one month in arrears on submitting their returns, we don’t pay them. We hold the transfer until they are in full compliance,” he said.
Mr Yamson said the reforms were intended to make accountability an integral part of local governance and ensure that public resources translated into sustainable development.
He also disclosed that the DACF had launched the Community Partners Fund to mobilise additional resources from citizens, the diaspora, corporate bodies and international organisations to support local development.
Mr Yamson said the Fund would complement government transfers and enable the DACF to build stronger links between assemblies and private-sector financing for local development projects.
The ultimate objective, he said, was to move Ghana’s decentralisation system beyond dependence on grants towards stronger fiscal, administrative and political autonomy for local governments.
Mr Yamson called for collaboration among Parliament, government institutions, development partners, assemblies and citizens to ensure that decentralisation delivered meaningful development at the local level.
The two-day dialogue was on the theme: “Resetting Democratic Decentralisation for Accountable Public Service Delivery and Accelerated Local Development.”
It brought together regional ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), traditional leaders, local government experts, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey
[email protected]