District Assemblies’ Common Fund Increased

PARLIAMENT HAS approved an increment of the District Assemblies' Common Fund from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent of the total national revenue. The increment takes effect from January 1, 2008.

The review, coming after 13 years of existence of the District Assemblies Common Fund, is as a result of the intended decentralization of Government.

Hon Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and chairman of the Committee of the Whole (all Parliamentary Select Committees), told the House that the decentralization exercise implies that a bigger percentage of governance issues would be delegated to local governments, hence the need for the increment.

“The decentralization project,” he said, “entails the release of resources and decision making to Regional Coordinating Councils and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).”

Members in the Chamber, were also informed that the passage of the Local Government Service Act, (Act 656, 2003), has intensified the decentralization process, thus requiring a corresponding increase in office accommodation and logistics in the assemblies.

“After careful consideration,” Hon. Blay said, “we have recommended that the capacities of the Assemblies should be improved to ensure effective and efficient utilization of the additional resources being allocated to them.”

For effective implementation of the fund, the committee advocated the strengthening of the monitoring role of Members of Parliament (MPs) and auditing by the appropriate agencies.

It also asked the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, in collaboration with the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF), to come out with the principle of setting cost ceiling for similar projects in similar locations to ensure value for money and to serve as a check on corruption, as some of officials sometimes inflate the cost of contract for their personal gains.

The committee urged the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment to ensure that the statutory allocations in the DACF to various departments are given to them.

“There should be an increase in MPs' share of the common fund from six to 10 per cent in the formula for distributing the Fund for 2008, and one sixth out of the current six per cent of the MPs' share should be set aside for monitoring and be made available to them at the DACF secretariat for easy access.”

A five-member committee constituted to come out with modalities for distribution of the Fund was advised to expedite action on the development of the guidelines to make the review operational as early as possible to enable MPs access their share of the Common Fund without much difficulty.

Already, the creation of new districts which resulted in a 25.4 per cent swell in the number of District Assemblies from 110 to 138 has necessitated a corresponding increase in office and residential accommodation for staff as well as other administrative expenses.

According to the committee, new districts may be created in 2008 and others upgraded to befit their status.

The MMDA have stated that they have put in place a number of measures to enhance revenue generation.

However, the additional responsibilities being placed on them require a capital outlay which is far beyond the districts current situation.