Payment of allowances to assembly members practicable — Expert

“It is very possible for assembly members across the country to be paid what I will call consolidated allowances as promised by President John Mahama.”

“This promise once again is very important and timely as part of the efforts to reset the local governance landscape; this will invariably motivate assembly members, many of whom get very little from the performance of their duties and functions,” a local governance expert, Dr Richard Fiadomor, has said.

Dr Fiadomor, who is also the President of the Chamber for Local Governance (ChaLoG), was speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra.

He was responding to a question on whether it was practicable for the government to pay assembly members allowances as an effective way to deepen local governance system.

Context

President Mahama, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) to Parliament on February 27, 2025, reiterated his commitment to pay modest allowances to assembly members, a promise he made during the 2024 election campaign.

In line with this, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in the 2025 Budget Statement and Financial Policy in Parliament on Tuesday, announced the allocation of GH¢100 million to that effect.

Implementation

Dr Fiadamor welcomed the move and said ChaLoG would closely monitor the implementation of the consolidated allowances, adding that it would motivate assembly members to prioritise their duties and improve the overall governance landscape.

He argued that the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) charged the allowances of assembly members on the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) which has led to a great deal of variation in the allowances that were paid to assembly members depending on the IGF position of the respective Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA).

“This, obviously is very discriminatory, in view of the same functions that are expected to be performed by each assembly member irrespective of the MMDAs that they find themselves,” he said.

“It is against this backdrop that the bold promise and commitment of the President to pay the assembly members is very much welcomed by the Chamber for Local Governance (ChaLoG) and we will closely monitor its implementation,” Dr Fiadomor stated.

He explained that the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) placed a responsibility on assembly members to meet with their electorate before a General Assembly Meeting to consult and solicit their views and opinions for the meeting to be held.

“They are equally enjoined to go back to their electorate and inform them about the policies and bye-laws approved by the MMDAS.”

Unfortunately, this very important function of the assembly member is largely not fulfilled because of the lack of any funds allocated to them to run their respective electoral areas or the payment of any meaningful allowances to them other than their sitting allowances,” he said.

Dr Fiadomor said the consolidated payment of allowances, therefore, would be a very big step towards getting them to refocus their interests to the business of performing executive and legislative functions at the MMDAs and most importantly pushing for more social accountability for their respective electoral areas.

The payment of Assembly members, he said, would also enjoin them to take interest in the voluntary supervision of all ongoing government projects within their respective electoral areas.