The Minority in Parliament has cautioned against dire consequences for the future of the country’s governance structure owing to the non-disbursement of monies from the District Assembly Common Fund to the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
It lamented that the MMDCEs could not do anything in their areas and residents would see them as inefficient and ineffective but it is not their fault and attributed it to the government.
“It is the government that is making them inefficient and ineffective because if you are a local assembly and your major source of revenue for progress, growth and development in the metropolis, municipal and district is the Common Fund, then we are in trouble,” the Minority stated.
In October 2021, the Minority caucus at a press conference chided the government for failing to make disbursements this year and further indicated that they believed the District Assembly Common Fund was owed more thanGH¢2 billion made up of arrears of disbursements from as far back as 2019.
Nii Lante Vanderpuye, the Ranking Member on the Local Government and Rural Development Committee of Parliament, urged the government to be more responsible as the delay was leading to underdevelopment in various local assemblies.
He raised concernabout the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies because for most of them, it was the same problem they faced and people stated they were not efficient and effective in the previous term leading to their removal from office.
“The Minority Caucus will meet to take a stance on the issue and may consider seeking legal redress to bring finality to the issue, we in the Minority are going further to hold the District Assembly Common Fund administrator to account because we have seen that she is misapplying money.
“She is being strangulated and not getting the releases, the little she gets, she releases it as it suits her, denying certain sectors monies for their payments, and we think it is not right, we are meeting and will take a stance on the issue and possibly seek redress in court,” Nii Lante Vanderpuye hinted. –citinewsroom.com