The impact of district assembly common fund on the economic welfare of Ghanaians (A case study of GA South Municipal Assembly)

Abstract

The District Asseemblies Common Fund  (DACF) was established in 1993 to give the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) financial autonomy to actually make decisions locally. The DACF has since then become an important tool for the achievement of fiscal decentralisation in particular and overall decentralisation in general.Our study seeks to find out the impact of the DACF on the economic welfare of the people in Ghana with Ga South as our focal point.Questionnaires, which were our main tool of gathering primary data were administered to a total of hundred members of selected communities in the Ga South Municipal Assembly. Descriptive statistics, SPSS, Microsoft Excel were used to analyse data collected from the field.The analysis of data collected revealed that a large percentage of the local population are unaware of the uses of the DACF and thus are unable to insist on its effective use. Also, it was gathered that the DACF meets the needs of the local population through the implementation of developmental projects particularly the provision of educational facilities, health centres, security and employment.There is therefore the need for community sensitisation about the DACF and its purposes. Also, more developmental projects should be undertaken in the communities to meet the basic needs of the growing population.

Keywords District assembly common fund, Decentralisation, Welfare, Local communities, Ghana.