The Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to submit all its plans and priority areas of development, including spatial planning to the Ministry when given the opportunity.
He explained that most of the MMMDAs did not include spatial planning as part of its priority areas when it submitted its plans to the Ministry ahead of the disbursement of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
According to Mr Ibrahim, most of the priority areas and projects that were captured in the submissions made by the MMDAs were the building of schools, roads, and Community Health-Based Planning Services (CHPS) compound.
The sector minister was speaking at a two-day National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Resource Governance held in Accra from Thursday to Friday.
“When we gave you the MMDAs the opportunity to bring us your priorities, you did not include spatial planning. Some said roads, CHPS compounds, classrooms, and furniture. Some even did not submit because they were not planning,” Mr Ibrahim said.
According to him, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, recently requested for the DACF plan for it to be included in the budget that would be read before the end of this year.
However, Mr Ibrahim noted that he pleaded with the Minister of Finance not to be included in the budget as it was a constitutional fund and therefore urged the MMDAs to abide by the DACF guidelines they had been provided to work with.
“We want to come to your Assemblies this time and look through your priorities to see how you are faring with the guidelines that were given in 2025 before we know whether we should proceed or not,” Mr Ibrahim said.
He explained that the 20 per cent of the DACF that was meant for the completion of abandoned projects would be translated into emerging priority areas of MMDAs that were not catered for once the abandoned projects were completed.
Mr Ibrahim pointed out that the government did not provide guidelines on the Internal Generated Fund (IGF) because it wanted the MMDAs to have flexibility for their pressing needs.
“So, if you know spatial planning is your topmost priority where you can plan well and even generate revenue through permit issuing, then you can go that way,” he said.
“We agreed that we will give a dedicated finding for the spatial plans, but it will go by evidence-based spatial planning,” Mr Ibrahim added.
He also urged international organisations and donor partners that undertake various projects in the districts across the country to liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs in the execution of such projects.
“As a cabinet, there must be a proper channel of communication through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, sector Minister and then the Regional Minister, so that there will be proper supervision of donor funds,” Mr Ibrahim added.
He noted that the countries that withdrew their support to Ghana under the DACF-Responsiveness Factor Grant programme were now returning with their support.
Mr Ibrahim said that, “every district will be responsible for the collection of property rate as it will not be centralised.”
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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