The Minority in Parliament has challenged government’s 2025 District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) Guidelines, accusing the Executive of constitutional breaches and financial mismanagement that threaten decentralised governance.
According to the Caucus, the new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Local Government contradict Parliament’s approved formula and undermine Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh warned that the directives risk weakening accountability, eroding local autonomy, and worsening persistent DACF arrears across the districts.
The Minority’s concerns, he said, go beyond technical disagreements.
“This is not an administrative oversight. It is a constitutional issue and a democratic accountability issue,” he declared.
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He explained that Parliament, under Article 252, has the sole authority to determine how DACF resources are shared among Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
He stated that the 2025 Ministerial Guidelines introduced fixed expenditure percentages that were never approved by Parliament.
“The Executive has moved from guidance into redesign. That is ultra vires and unconstitutional,” he stressed.
The Minority argues that the directives effectively replace Parliament’s data-driven allocation formula with a parallel regime.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh noted that Parliament’s 2025 DACF Formula is based on scientific indicators, including location quotients, deprivation and need factors, service pressure indicators, and weighted equity components.
According to him, these ensure that deprived districts receive proportionately higher resources.
In contrast, the Ministerial Guidelines mandate allocations such as 25% for 24-hour economy markets, 10% for CHPS compounds, 10% for school blocks, and 20% for legacy projects.
“These percentages appear nowhere in the Parliamentary Formula. They are substitutive, not supplementary,” he said.
Citing the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), the Minority maintained that the Minister’s powers are limited to facilitating implementation, warning that the law does not empower the Minister to redesign allocation structures or override Parliament.
He described the situation as a textbook case of executive overreach that threatens the financial independence of MMDAs.
New guidelines
The Minority Whip outlined several consequences of the new guidelines, warning that fixed national spending templates ignore the disparities between deprived rural districts and better-resourced urban areas, thereby undermining equity and replacing fairness with rigidity.
As Mr. Annoh-Dompreh put it: “Equity is replaced by uniformity. Justice is replaced by rigidity.”
He further argued that the directives erode local autonomy by reducing district assemblies to mere implementers of centrally prescribed projects, weakening the spirit of decentralisation.
In addition, the Minority noted that conflicting instructions from Parliament and the Ministry are creating administrative confusion, delaying planning and procurement processes, and exposing public officers to legal risks.
They also cautioned that expanded approval roles linked to reserve funds could blur governance responsibilities, drawing Members of Parliament into executive functions and weakening established accountability structures.
DACF arrears and underfunding
Beyond the guidelines, the Minority Whip also criticised persistent underfunding and arrears in DACF releases.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh referred to constitutional provisions and a 2019 Supreme Court ruling which affirmed that DACF must receive not less than 5% of national revenue.
“The 5% rule is not negotiable. It is a constitutional floor,” he said.
He cited reports showing that DACF transfers in recent years fell far below this threshold, in some cases below 2%.
He revealed that many payments made in 2024 were meant to clear debts dating back to 2014–2016 and estimated outstanding DACF arrears for 2024 alone at over GH¢7 billion.
According to the Minority, these arrears have resulted in stalled infrastructure projects, unpaid contractors, abandoned social facilities, and reduced investor confidence at the local level.
The Minority criticised government priorities, pointing out that other statutory funds, including GETFund and NHIA, received substantial releases in early 2025 while the DACF was ignored.
He described this as an inversion of constitutional hierarchy.
Reforms
The Minority Whip called for urgent reforms, including the withdrawal or revision of the guidelines to align with Parliament’s approved formula, the introduction of automatic DACF computations within the budget system, and a structured arrears clearance plan supported by an independent audit.
He also demanded stronger parliamentary oversight through regular reporting by the Minister for Finance, key administrative reforms such as a dedicated DACF desk and GIFMIS integration, and improved transparency through a public compliance dashboard.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh pledged that the Minority would continue to challenge what it considers unlawful actions, describing the situation as a test of Ghana’s democratic resilience.
“We are not opposed to development. We are opposed to illegality. We are opposed to unconstitutionality. Constitutions do not enforce themselves. Citizens do. Leaders do. And when necessary, minorities do. When Parliament stands, democracy stands. And when Parliament’s authority is undermined, every Ghanaian feels the tremor,” he stressed.