Story: News Desk 

Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam has urged the Office of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to promptly transfer the allocated GH¢181,837,022.00 to the beneficiaries of the DACF-Responsiveness Factor Grant (RFG) for the District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT) VI.

He expressed concern that the ongoing delays in transferring the funds to the Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) could undermine the government’s commitment to bilateral cooperation agreements and pose a significant risk to the Ministry’s objective of mobilising resources to support local development through decentralisation.

In a statement dated February 27, 2024, Mr Adam emphasised the importance of these potential grant funds as the country navigates an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme of fiscal consolidation and economic recovery.

Mr Adam clarified that the Ministry received a letter dated December 12, 2023, from the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), requesting the DACF Office to transfer GH¢181,837,022.00; GH¢170,142,722.00 to the Sub-consolidated accounts of the MMDAs and GH¢11,694,300 to the DPAT Secretariat for DPAT VI activities.

He expressed concern that these funds had not yet been received by the beneficiaries, hindering the progress and effective operations of the MMDAs.

Mr Adam stated that the prerequisite for Development Partners (DPs) committing funds to the DACF-RFG was the transfer of funds intended for the previous DPAT cycle (both GoG and DP contributions) to the MMDAs for their planned activities.

He noted that the ministry had received concerns from its development partners about the delayed transfer of funds to MMDAs, which threatens current and future DP support to the DACF-RFG.

For instance, the Finance Minister pointed out that the Swiss Government was hesitant to execute a new grant financing agreement of CHF22million, including CHF6million for DPAT VII activities in 2024, because the CHF4million disbursed in December 2022, along with the corresponding Government of Ghana (GoG) contribution for DPAT VI activities in 2023, had not been transferred to the MMDAs.