The former Member of Parliament for La Dade Kotopon in the Greater Region, Nii Amasah Namoale, has appealed to the government to stop the disbursement of the Common Fund to municipal and metropolitan assemblies.
He said these assemblies have several institutions which they can generate revenue from to run their day-to-day activities, just that they have been lazy in mobilising revenue.
Nii Amasah Namoale was contributing to discussions on the creation of about four new regions which is believed will bring development to the doorstep of the people.
President Akufo-Addo on Thursday inaugurated a commission of inquiry chaired by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Brobbey, to collate views from the public on the creation of the new regions.
The former MP who assessed the level of poverty at the hinterlands advocated a re-look at how the Common Fund is disbursed.
“The metropolitan and municipals must not be given the Common Fund. They have everything already. I went to Sene and the poverty, my God, and I will urge government not [to disburse money from the] common fund to all the metropolitan and municipal assemblies”, he stressed.
The NDC man explained, “we should give the monies to those in the rural areas because they are suffering. There is poverty in these areas so the monies given to those in metropolitan and municipals should go to the rural areas because the municipal and metropolitans have enough institutions to collect revenue from”.
Acting Deputy Communications Director for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ekow Vincent Assifuah, was hopeful the new regions will solve the problems of Ghanaians in a way of employment creation.
“There would be creation of regional coordinating councils and people will be employed”, he explained.
Mr. Assifuah added, “look at what it takes to get to a regional capital. If I have to spend number of hours to travel to get to a regional coordinating council to have an issue solved, then it means there is a problem”.
By Kweku Antwi-Otoo|TV3|3news.com|Ghana