Ho Central MP Benjamin Kpodo has accused the Finance Ministry of consistently flouting Supreme Court rulings regarding the computation of funds due to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF).

The member of Parliament's Finance Committee in a detailed examination of schedules for the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, highlighted significant discrepancies, pledging legal action to compel compliance.

Supreme Court Ruling on Non-Tax Revenues

Referencing the June 2019 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Benjamin Kpodo and Richard Quarshiga vs. The Attorney General, he emphasised the court's stance on "Non-Tax Revenues" and "petroleum revenues."

He stated that non-tax revenues, including mineral royalties, were consistently excluded from the total revenue applied in determining DACF allocations.

"The Ministry of Finance has excluded revenue realizations from mineral royalties since the 2019 ruling,” Mr Kpodo declared.

He further presented figures amounting to GHSȼ6,654,775,048.58 paid to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) since 2020, demanding that five per cent of this sum be released to the DACF.

Petroleum Revenues: Exclusion of Petroleum Funds

Quoting the Supreme Court ruling on petroleum revenues, the MP argued against the exclusion of certain amounts, such as royalties from oil, company income tax (C.I.T.), dividends/interest from petroleum oil, surface rentals from oil, and allocation to the National Oil Company (GNPC).

He contended that these revenues should not be excluded from the gross proceeds from oil revenue when computing DACF allocations.

GRA's 3% Retention: A Further Blow

The Member of Parliament’s finance committee also raised concerns about the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) 3% retention, which is annually granted for its operations.

He questioned the rationale behind deducting amounts allocated to GRA from revenues before determining the total revenue applicable for DACF allocations, arguing that GRA, as a state agency, should not be exempt from the calculation.