The Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region, Kenneth Nana Addo, has urged for amendments to be made to the Local Government Act to ensure that the Administrator of the District Assembly Common Fund is answerable to the Local Government Minister.
Nana Addo believes that such a change would help resolve the administrative conflicts between the Administrator and the district assemblies.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, he stated that this move would also streamline the distribution of funds to district assemblies, thereby advancing the government’s development agenda.
The MP further argued that many of the challenges faced by the assemblies stem from inaccuracies in the reports related to fund allocation.
He also discussed the current formula used to distribute the funds and suggested improvements to correct the errors.
“If the formula is that assemblies generating more internally generated funds (IGF) receive more resources, while those in rural areas with fewer resources, such as TMA, KMA, and others, get less, then these assemblies will struggle to develop,” he said.
Additionally, Nana Addo highlighted a persistent issue of the Common Fund Administrator not reporting directly to the Local Government Minister, which, he believes, results in contracts being awarded at the national level without meaningful impact at the local level.
The MP has called on the Minister for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, to review the distribution formula to ensure more equitable allocation and better development outcomes for all districts.
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