Assembly members will receive allowances in my next govt – Mahama

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has promised to pay assembly members an allowance when he is elected president in the 2024 elections.

The former president acknowledged the important role that people within the local governance structure play and indicated that they need financial support to enable them to effectively carry out their duties.

“As I have said, assembly members carry great responsibilities, and if I am elected president, we will pay them an allowance so that it helps them carry out the duties they have been elected for,” he said.

Addressing the media in Bole after casting his vote in today’s district assembly elections, Mahama added that his government will take decentralization seriously and ensure that the District Common Fund disbursement increases from 5 per cent to 7 per cent.

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, 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 Assembly 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.”