MP calls for the evaluation of Common Fund

Yendi (N/R), Oct. 24, GNA - Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra-Nandom, has called on the government to make a critical evaluation of the conceptual basis of the MP's share of the District Assemblies Common Fund and what development agenda it required to serve.

He said if the purpose of the Fund was to direct MPs as development agents in their constituencies, then their control over the fund and responsibility to account for its must be given a second look.

Dr Kunbuor made the call when he presented a paper on: "Ghana's decentralisation process, governance and development - The role of the MP and District Chief Executive (DCE)" at a capacity building workshop for newly elected assembly members from Northern Ghana at Yendi. The workshop was on the theme: "Good governance and development at the local level=94 and was organised for 65 newly elected assembly members from the five diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ghana. The Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), a Catholic agency dedicated to addressing the socio-spiritual, economic, cultural and political issues affecting the people of the Northern Regions, organised the workshop with sponsorship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF), a German Non-Governmental Organisation.

Dr Kunbuor said: "Should there be a national consensus that MPs share of the fund be retained, I can see MPs playing a more useful development role in terms of their constitutional oversight responsibilities at the district level through the use of the fund".

He suggested that provisions should be made for MPs travelling and night allowances as obtained in the public services to enable them to stay in their constituencies to implement development projects.

"This would make our role clearer in the development equation than the current pretence of providing infrastructure facilities with limited resources".

The Lawra-Nandom MP noted that even though the Fund served as a blessing for some MPs, it was also a misfortune for others and called for its review to tailor it to meet the political dynamics of the times. On the role of DCEs, he suggested that they be elected.

"In my view, an elected DCE would be free from allegiance to multiple masters outside the district and be accountable to the people who elected him or her=94.

Dr Kunbuor said for MPs and DCEs to play important roles on development and good governance at the local level, there was the need for them to understand the socio-economic and political profiles of the district and constituency very well and the dynamics within it.

He urged MPs to avoid using their share of the common fund for political patronage. 24 Oct. 06