Government says it has begun working towards increasing funding available to local assemblies, with plans to raise the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) from 5% to 7.5% of projected national revenues.
The Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, said the adjustment would be carried out gradually, with government considering a one-percentage-point increase in 2027 and a further one percentage point in 2028.
Speaking at the second National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance on Monday, August 10, the Tamale South MP said the proposed increases formed part of efforts to deliver on the NDC’s manifesto commitment and give Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) greater control over resources.
Mr. Iddrisu said the additional funding would not merely increase the financial resources of the assemblies but would be linked to specific responsibilities, particularly in the health and education sectors.
Under the proposed arrangement, he explained, the first additional percentage point could support health services at the local level, including allowing metropolitan assemblies to recruit doctors and nurses directly.
The second percentage point, he said, could be channelled into education and broader efforts to transfer responsibilities and decision-making powers from central government to local authorities.
Mr. Iddrisu said the approach was consistent with President John Dramani Mahama’s vision of making decentralisation more meaningful, including through the proposed election of MMDCEs.
He argued that political decentralisation would have limited impact if assemblies remained financially dependent on the central government to perform basic functions.
The Minister therefore called for a system in which local authorities have predictable resources to independently execute their mandates and respond to the needs of their communities.
He pointed to the experience of the education sector, where the availability of GETFund resources is necessary for the effective implementation of programmes, to illustrate the importance of dedicated funding for decentralised institutions.
Mr. Iddrisu also recalled that the DACF reached 7.5% under the late President John Evans Atta Mills, saying the proposed gradual adjustment would return the fund to that level while avoiding an abrupt increase in government expenditure.
He maintained that strengthening the financial position of MMDAs was necessary to make local governance more responsive, competitive and accountable to citizens.
“Now, the elephant in the room is the District Assemblies Common Fund. We said in the NDC manifesto that we would adjust the DACF from 5% to 7.5%. So, as a government, we have said that we will increase the DACF.
“The DACF under the Atta Mills government was 7.5%, so we want to walk gingerly and gradually towards the same. In 2027, you can give one per cent, and in 2028 add another one per cent, and we would have honoured the manifesto pledge of adjusting the DACF to 7.5%,” he said.
