CSPS proposes new, more equitable formula for District Assembly Common Fund

CSPS researchers, Dr. Kwadwo Opoku and Dr. George Domfe, presented a new formula for allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund to members of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Poverty Reduction.  NDPC and UNICEF helped to organize this roundtable discussion on the District League Table and how it can be more effectively used to address the disparities among the districts. The meeting also provided an opportunity to examine the extent to which the existing District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) formula is able to address inequalities among the 261 Districts. To this end, CSPs presented a study on the review of the current DACF formula which found that the current DACF formula is not a pro-poor because it transfers more resources to richer and densely populated districts/municipalities/metropolises.

CSPS suggested that the formular should include the poverty rate as an indicator and, secondly, reduce the weight put on the district’s population. CSPS further recommended that, to avoid perennial delays in the release of funds into the DACF, the Parliament of Ghana should enact a law for the automatic transfer of funds to the DACF account in the Bank of Ghana.

See video here on Facebook.