The two newly created districts in the Northern Region are yet to commence operation nearly two months after inauguration following government inability to provide seed funding.
The Yunyoo and Nanton district assemblies were part of some 38 assemblies created and commissioned nationwide on March 15, 2018, by the NPP government.
Checks however revealed government has not only been able to provide funding for the assemblies to take off running but also yet to appoint 30% of the assembly staff as required by the Local Government Act 935.
During a lofty celebration to inaugurate the assemblies, government provided about 30 tricycles and office equipments to the Yunyoo district assembly. The assembly covers dozen communities without any sustainable sources of Internal revenue.
The tricycles and dustbins have been left standing at the office of the district assembly and many officials are yet to even arrive in the community to begin work.
Checks at the Nanton assembly also found many offices shut. The Assembly is operating from a facility used and abandoned by International aid mission, World Vision Int.
On a Monday morning, only the District Director, who has been funding official duties of the assembly, and some casual staff were seated unengaged.
Central government only gave the assembly tables, chairs, printers and few other office equipment on the Inauguration Day. The assembly bought air conditioners other items and continue to run the assembly on credit.
This assembly also has no sustainable sources for internal revenue mobilization for its running. An official who spoke to StarrNews anonymously said the assembly intends purchasing heavy equipment to hire them out.
In the Northern region, creation of district assemblies mostly depend on interplay of very complicated social and political factors. Activities in many of these assemblies lag due to oversight factor of lack of planning on how to internally generate revenue to run the assembly. Some districts in this region generate as low as Six Hundred Ghana Cedis(GH600) quarterly as Internal Generated Fund.
There are many district assemblies that still operate in rented premises and cannot fund businesses of the assembly without the Common Fund. Activities grind to stasis when government delay to release these subventions.
Despite this and many widely known sad realities about the state of all 26 regional assemblies, government went ahead to functionally create these two more assemblies which has remained practically shut after two months of commissioning.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/Eliasu Tanko
