Deductions of district common funds at source must be justified – Director
Government has resolved not to effect any revenue deduction from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) from source unless a formal resolution by a particular Assembly justifying the need for deduction is submitted, Alhaji Alhassan Issahaku, Northern Regional Coordinating Director, has said.
He explained that the move was aimed at helping the assemblies to implement their projects.
Alhaji Issahaku, who was speaking at a regional policy dialogue on DACF organized by SEND Ghana for civil societies in Tamale, said it had been observed that deductions of funds at source was slowing down the socio-economic development of the assemblies.
The day’s forum under the theme “Managing Public Finance for Effective Local Development: The DACF in Perspective” sought to disseminate finding of a recent study and to develop an action plan on how assemblies could best manage resources judiciously.
He urged other stakeholders to institute stringent measures to ensure that only important resolutions made by assemble were submitted for deductions.
Alhaji Issahaku urged civil societies to serve as a check on assemblies by assessing their performance in infrastructural development and to offer constructive criticism as well as present alternative solution to their challenges.
Mr John Nkaw, Programmes Manager of SEND Ghana, said the study conducted between 2009 and 2011 revealed that there was misappropriation and mismanagement of deductions at the DACF Secretariat and that the supposed transactions for which deductions were made were often not pursued, while other deductions did not follow due procedure.
He said the study revealed that there was inadequate access to budget documents and information and that some 89 per cent of respondents did not have any information on the assemblies’ budget.
“Although most assemblies had budget documents, they are done to fulfill official commitments. If they are available and people do not have access to it, then of what use is it to produce them at all”, he said.
“There is ample evidence of low capacity and weak understanding of assembly staff on regulations including the Financial Administration Act 2003, Financial Administration Regulation 2004, and the Financial Memoranda for assemblies”, he said.
Generally, Mr Nkaw said, assemblies cited for irregularities in the Northern Region was the highest followed by Upper West and Upper East as well as the Greater Accra regions.
Mr Nkaw said the study recommended for an immediate establishment of an effective monitoring system to follow up on the recommendations of the Auditor General and take appropriate actions against assemblies that persistently flouted financial standards.
He said it also recommended that regional coordinating and planning units in the country should be resourced to effectively monitor and supervise the assemblies.
Mr Nkaw said the study also recommended that punitive measures should be taken by Ministry of Local Government and rural Development against key officials of assemblies such as finance officers and coordinating directors who failed to ensure best financial management processes and procedures.
Source: GNA