The Minority in Parliament has accused the Ministry of Finance of violating the Constitution and disobeying recent Supreme Court rulings regarding the distribution of funds to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

Both the Minority and some Majority MPs have expressed dissatisfaction with the Finance Ministry's delay in releasing funds to the Common Fund for local development.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, March 20, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Local Government Committee, Benjamin Komla Kpodo said that the government owes the DACF billions of cedis and has failed to comply with the law to release money to the fund.

He pointed out that despite Parliament's approval of the funds, the Ministry of Finance decides how to manage the secretariat in the absence of the administrator.

Mr Kpodo stressed that the Ministry of Finance has been violating the constitution, specifically Article 252, 2, which mandates quarterly disbursement of funds.

"They were not doing it, they decided to cap the fund. We went to court, and the Supreme Court took time to give rulings but aside from violating the Constitution, the Ministry of Finance has refused to also obey the ruling of the Supreme Court."

He further argued that the Common Fund is owed approximately GH₵3.5 billion over the past two years, with an additional GH₵3 billion in debt for 2023, and questioned the whereabouts of the funds allocated for the Assemblies Common Fund.

The Ho Central MP stated that the Finance Ministry unlawfully excludes certain revenues, such as mineral royalties when computing total state revenues to deduct from the DACF, emphasising that the practice contradicts the Supreme Court ruling.

“It is against the ruling of the Supreme Court. So mineral royalties are not included in the total revenue computed for the purpose of determining how much is given to these Assemblies Common Fund."

Mr Kpodo noted that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has referred the matter to the Finance Committee for inquiry, but attempts to compel the Ministry of Finance to respond to these issues have been unsuccessful.

He expressed frustration, stating, "I don’t know why the Ministry of Finance hates the Common Fund. The biggest enemy of the Common Fund Secretariat is the Ministry of Finance, they don’t want to make it prosper, I don’t know why."

He also emphasised the critical importance of the District Assemblies Common Fund, stating that many assemblies rely on it for financial support.