Minister calls for doubling of percentage threshold of Common Fund

Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has called for the doubling of the percentage threshold of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to 15 percent from the present 7.5 percent.

He said this was necessary as the impact of the DACF and the Internally Generated Fund (IGF) had failed to address the corresponding responsibilities placed on the Assemblies.

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said this during the inauguration of eight development projects worth 489,000 dollars financed through the District Development Facility (DDF) for the Kpando District.

He said Uganda, a recipient of Ghana’s decentralization concept, has raised its threshold to 30 percent to bridge the financing gap and to meet the demands of its constituents at the grassroots level.

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah urged the Assemblies to evolve prudent strategies towards harnessing and mobilizing all potential revenue sources.

Mr Joseph Z. Amenowode, the Volta Regional Minister, said the  potential for the IGF as a source of finance service delivery had not been fully exploited.

He said government would continue to deliver on its development agenda to ensure that all constituencies’ benefit from the national development programme without any discrimination.

“Let us refocus and redirect our energies towards achieving the national good,” Mr Amenowode said

Source: GNA