Twenty Years of Implementation of District Assemblies’ Common Fund in Ghana - (1994-2013) An Assessment of Disbursement

Decentralized democracies have been referred to as most efficient in delivery of social services in line with the aspirations of the citizens by exercising transparency and ensuring accountability from political actors. Ghana’s 1992 Constitution promulgated in 1993 outlined in a new framework the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) to empower the local government system to accelerate decentralization. The objective of the Fund is to support the implementation of District Development Programmes as well as leading the development priorities of the district to be accomplished on the principles of subsidiarity. Adopting a mixed method methodology, analysed within the framework of empowerment, this paper seeks to assess the contributions of DACF, the challenges embedded in the operation of the DACF as well as the opportunities to ensure optimal utilization of the limited resources to alleviate the rural population from the quagmire of underdevelopment. Although, the paper concludes that DACF is fraught with challenges, the Fund has contributed to the infrastructural development of district assemblies across the country.