Some MMDAs Delay Disbursement of DACF for PWDs

By Samuel Akapule

Bolgatanga — Some metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) have delayed the disbursement of the three per cent of the District Assembly's Common Fund (DACF) meant for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere, has disclosed.

He, therefore, entreated political heads of the MMDAs to expedite action on the disbursement of the DACF before the committee came out with its final report to Parliament.

Mr Sekyere made the observation in Bolgatanga, on Saturday, after members of the committee, visited some MMDAs in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, to assess how the MMDAs were disbursing the DACF, and funds meant for sanitation, gender and education among others.

The Strengthening Transparency Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana (STAR-Ghana), is funding activities of the committee.

The committee identified in its findings the failure of the MMDAs to mobilise enough internal revenue from enterprises, including the telecommunication and housing sectors, within their jurisdictions.

The committee also realised poor sanitation at metropolis, municipalities and districts, as they lacked land field sites, compelling many of them to dump waste disposals indiscriminately.

The committee members included Mr. Samuel Atta Mills, MP for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem, Mr. Benjamin Komla Kpodo, MP for Ho Central and Nii LanteVanderpuye, MP for Odododiodio.

Mr Mills advocated the election of the metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to be able to address problems.

"MMDCEs can only be more effective if they are elected by the people as proposed by many stakeholders, including the President. If this is done, they will live up to their responsibilities, by ensuring that the assemblies work efficiently since they will fear to lose election should they perform poorly."

Mr. Mills said he did not endorse the idea of transferring civil and public servants rampantly anytime there was change of government as a way of punishment.

In response to a question posed by journalists about the Right to Information Bill, Mr. Kpodo, assured that Parliament was working hard to ensure that the bill was passed into law.

He indicated that the bill if passed into law would empower journalists to support Parliament and other state institutions to enhance transparency, accountability and to be able to deal with corruption.

The Parliamentary Support Manager of STAR-Ghana, Ms. Mariam Angyela Kyei, explained that one of the core values of STAR-Ghana was the empowerment of the citizenry at the grassroots, adding that her outfit was supporting some parliamentary select committees to ensure that such results were achieved.

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