Advertisement

Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo answering questions before the Appointments Committee.
Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo answering questions before the Appointments Committee.

Appointments Committee vets Administrator designate of DACF

The Administrator designate of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo, has pledged to resolve the conflict between metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) over the lack of transparency and delay in the release of MPs’ share of the common fund.

Desk officers

Answering questions before the Appointments Committee of Parliament (ACP) yesterday, Naa Torshie said she would champion the formation of desk officers for MPs in all the 216 districts.

She said the desk officers would provide quarterly reports for the MPs on their releases.

Besides, she said, she would ensure that the assemblies furnished the MPs with bank statements on the releases of their (MPs’) share of the DACF.

Naa Torshie said she would facilitate the early release of requests for common fund allocations by MPs.

"It should be possible to have their allocations after five days," she said.

The Chairman of the ACP, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, who posed the question, indicated that MPs were normally kept in the dark as to how their share of the common fund was being used.

He said allocations for MPs were used by the assemblies for purposes other than what the MPs intended to use the funds for.

Allocations information

Naa Torshie said she would take steps to provide information on DACF disbursements to assembly members.

For instance, she said, her office would write letters on the disbursements to MMDCEs, copied to presiding members for onward relay to assembly members.

"I will liaise with the Local Government Committee of Parliament to get assembly members information on how much was disbursed," she said.

Common Fund

Naa Torshie indicated that DACF allocations in the past hovered around 4.2 per cent of total revenue, instead of the 7.5 per cent allocation provided for in the law.

She said with the capping of the allocation to five per cent of total revenue now, she would ensure that allocations were adequate to meet the demands of the districts.

She said with strong commitment, the allocations would be higher than the 4.2 per cent.

Naa Torshie defended her appointment by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to be his representative at the Common Fund Secretariat.

The Administrator designate of the DACF is a lawyer and a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is also a former MP for Tema West.

Poor district assemblies

Naa Torshie said she would support poor district assemblies to access the District Development Fund and other donor funds.

Besides, she would engage consultants to help the assemblies on how to increase their internally generated funds.

Directive

Mr Osei-Owusu asked her to furnish Parliament with the allocations of the common fund over the years, if she should receive parliamentary approval.

He said the law spoke about 7.5 per cent of total revenue and so Parliament wanted to know if there had been any shortfalls over the years.

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |