DACF BETRAYAL: HOW THE NDC IS UNDERMINING GHANA’S CONSTITUTIONAL FUND
On 12 June 2019, the Supreme Court of Ghana delivered a clear and final warning in Benjamin Komla Kpodo & Richard Quashigah v. Attorney-General: not less than 5% of Ghana’s total revenue must go to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF). Not a suggestion. Not a target. A binding constitutional command.
Yet the record shows the opposite.
The contrast in 2025 is stark and troubling. Between January and April 2025, GETFund reportedly received GH¢2.71 billion. The National Health Insurance Authority received GH¢2.03 billion in the first quarter alone, and even cleared GH¢834 million in provider arrears. Meanwhile, DACF, which is constitutionally protected, received about GH¢987.97 million in Q1 2025, an amount that does not eliminate the massive historical backlog.
This is not fiscal pressure. This is fiscal prioritisation.
The Constitution places DACF at the heart of decentralised development. When transfers fall below 5%, when arrears accumulate year after year, and when constitutionally guaranteed funds are treated as optional while statutory funds are paid promptly, the signal is clear: local development is being sidelined.
The defence that past governments left arrears cannot excuse present non-compliance. Governance is measured by correction, not repetition. If the New Patriotic Party cleared portions of inherited arrears between 2017 and 2021, then any administration today must do more and not less to honour constitutional duties.
District Assemblies are not begging for favours. They are demanding what the Constitution guarantees. Every cedi withheld represents stalled roads, unfinished schools, abandoned clinics, and unpaid contractors across Ghana’s 261 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.
This issue is bigger than party politics. It is about the rule of law, concern for development, fiscal discipline, and respect for judicial authority. A government that ignores a Supreme Court ruling, underfunds a constitutional mandate, and allows GH¢7+ billion in arrears to pile up cannot claim to defend decentralisation.
The numbers are clear. The dates are documented. The Constitution is explicit.
Ghana deserves compliance and not excuses.
By: Blessing Mantey
