Minister of State in Charge of Government Communications and Member of Parliament for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has accused the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of neglecting district assemblies for the past eight years, leaving them financially crippled.
Speaking on State of Affairs with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu revealed that district assemblies have been struggling due to a lack of funding, forcing Members of Parliament to personally finance essential community projects.
“The district assemblies have been dismembered. They have been left on their own. Hardly any funds went to them. And in their stead, all manner of amorphous duplications have been put in place, like the Coastal Development Authority, to do the same things that the district assemblies do,” he stated.
He further alleged that funds meant for local governance were instead funneled into politically motivated agencies, such as the Coastal Development Authority (CODA), the Middle Belt Development Authority, and the Northern Development Authority, which he described as being “packed with political cronies and appendages.”
According to the minister, the government is now taking steps to correct this issue by scrapping these agencies and redirecting funds back to district assemblies. He disclosed that an estimated GHS 7.15 billion will be allocated to the assemblies through the District Assemblies Common Fund.
“This is important because it relieves MPs of the pressure that has been brought on us. In the last few months, I have had to finance virtually every activity of my assembly because there hasn’t been a dime in the office,” he lamented.
