A three-member subcommittee of the Local government Committee of Parliament which has been touring some district assemblies within the Volta Region has expressed concerns about the late and irregular release of common fund to the district assemblies in the country.
The Local Government committee with support from Star Ghana has been touring 6 districts of the Volta Region, inquiring into the use of funds available to the assemblies and also the ability of the districts to generate funds internally.
Chairman for the subcommittee and MP for the Ho Central Constituency, Benjamin Komla Kpodo told Citi News the committee’s main objective is to vet the release and application of the district assembly common fund in order to inform future policies.
Mr. Kpodo said the team has observed that the common fund is not just delayed but also inadequate, while the assemblies themselves are unable to generate enough revenue internally to support their operations.
“We have observed that the common fund is not regularly released to the assemblies and the assemblies also complain that the funds are woefully inadequate. We also see that the assemblies are not able to generate enough internal funds with which they will run the assemblies. So we have been discussing with them how to generate enough internal revenue,” Mr. Kpodo noted.
The Committee expressed reservations about the delay in disbursement of disability funds by the assemblies.
“We have observed that funds made available to the assemblies for disbursement to persons living with disabilities are not distributed to them promptly thus we have been asking the assemblies to make it a point to release the funds to them as soon us it is made available to the assemblies” Mr. Kpodo further noted.
DCE for Ho West, Ernest Appaw explained that the challenge has to do with inaccurate data.
Touting the achievements of his district, Mr. Appaw called for more of such assessments from other institutions.
“We hope that other institution will come to access us and to have evidence of what we are doing… There’s also the concern of delay in the spending of disability funds, but you know, sometimes, it is because of the challenges in accessing persons with disabilities… It is a process and that is why there appears to be a delay,” Appaw explained.
–
By: Benjamin Aklama | citinewsroom.com | bkaklama@gmail.com | Ghana | @bk_aklama