The Minority in Parliament has alleged that the government has contravened the 1992 Constitution by implementing an unauthorized parallel formula for allocating the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), which they deem unlawful.
According to Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who raised the issue at a press conference, the government’s new guidelines supersede Parliament’s constitutionally sanctioned formula for distributing funds among the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
He stated that the parliamentary formula is grounded in data-driven and empirically structured indicators, including social needs, education, healthcare, and equitable development considerations, rather than political motivations.
Frank Annoh-Dompreh stated that the Minister’s guidelines for the 2025 DACF contradict the Parliament-approved formula, introducing rigid expenditure allocations not grounded in the approved model, including specific percentages for various projects.
He criticised the ministerial directive on fund allocation, stating the percentages are rigid and deviate from the Parliamentary formula, with allocations including 25% for the 24-Hour Economy Market initiative, 10% each for CHPS compounds, school blocks, boreholes, and sanitation projects, 5% for administration, and 20% for legacy projects.
“Article 252 of our cherished 1992 Constitution is clear and unambiguous. It vests in Parliament and Parliament alone the authority to determine the formula for sharing the District Assembly Common Fund across our 261 MMDAs.
“That authority is neither symbolic nor advisory. It is binding. In accordance with this mandate, Parliament approved the 2025 DACF Formula allocating some GHS7.51 million for the fiscal year and distributed it based on scientifically grounded equity drive module.
“Nonetheless, the 2025 Ministerial guidelines introduced in effect a parallel allocation regime, one that imposes new mandatory percentages, new expenditure categories and new national priorities that do not exist in the Parliamentary formula.
“In doing so, the executive has stepped beyond guidance into redesign and that by every constitutional law is ultra varies,” he said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
