Former President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to raise the district assembly common fund from the current 5% to 7% if he emerges victorious in the 2024 elections.

The presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress made this promise in Bole after casting his vote in the district assembly elections, emphasizing that it is part of the measures his government will implement to enhance local governance.

“If God smiles on us, and we win the 2024 elections, we are going to take decentralization seriously, the rest of the ministries seriously, and the rest of the MMDAs that are still centralized. We are going to complete the decentralization so that we truly hand over power to the people at the local government level. Until we get our decentralization right, Ghana is not going to go anywhere, and so we are going to take it seriously.”

“We are going to make sure that District Common Fund disbursement increases from 5% to 7%, as enforced in 2016, and that the District Assemblies Common Fund is going to be regular so that districts can take advantage of it to increase the pace of their development. So, for those who haven’t voted, please go to the polling stations and select your assembly members,” Mr. Mahama said.

In addition to his pledge to increase the district assembly common fund, Mr. Mahama urged the Electoral Commission of Ghana to implement measures to prevent issues such as malfunctioning equipment and delayed starts that were observed in the district assembly elections from recurring in the 2024 General elections.

He emphasized that addressing these concerns is crucial to avoid potential chaos during the upcoming national elections.