Parliament approves estimates for Local Government
Parliament last Tuesday approved GH¢321.83 million as the 2017 annual budget of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
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The estimates of the ministry were contained in the budget statement and economic policy of the government for the 2017 financial year, which was presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, on March 2, 2017.
According to the report of the Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, out of the GH¢321.83 million, GH¢10 million had been earmarked for compensation, GH¢29.71 million for goods and services, with GH¢1.6 million dedicated for the acquisition of assets.
Committee's report
The committee’s report observed that the budget for the ministry was heavily dependent on donor support, saying its analysis of the estimates indicates that donor component represents 85 per cent of the total budget, with 99 per cent of the allocation for assets to be funded from donor sources.
It stated that since the donor support for the District Development Fund (DDF) would end in 2017, the impact was likely to be negative after 2017 if no alternative sources were found.
It, therefore, urged the ministry to liaise with the Ministry of Finance to explore other sources of funding to support its activities.
The report also identified outstanding arrears of $40 million, being the counterpart funding for the DDF, saying the budget did not make any provision to cater for the arrears.
Minority on allocations
The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the minority was not happy with the reduction of the allocation to the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
He added that the Minority would pursue a legal option to give meaning to Article 252 of the Constitution, which required of a government to allocate not less than five per cent of total revenue to the DACF.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Keta Constituency, Mr Richard Quashigah, has already initiated a court process to seek the interpretation of the Supreme Court of Article 252 of the Constitution.