Sylvester Tetteh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bortianor Ngleshie Amanfrom constituency in the Greater Accra region, has bemoaned the delay in the payment of the District Assemblies Common Fund.

He explained that nothing could justify the delay in the payment of the common fund because the 1992 Constitution required that 5 per cent of the total revenue was dedicated and committed to the District Assembly Common Fund.

"The 1992 constitution requires that fiveper cent of the total revenue is dedicated and committed to the District Assembly Common Fund though previous administrations over the years have defaulted in paying on time, it cannot be allowed to go on so there should be no justification for delay in its payment," Mr Mensah noted.

The District Assembly Common Fund is currently in arrears of six quarters of which recently the Ministry of Finance made payment of two quarters which spans from 2018 to 2019, 2020 to 2021, and 2022 yet the government has been collecting revenue but is unable to dedicate and commit five per cent as required by the Constitution.

The Minister of Finance in a response to why government has failed to honor that constitutional mandate said the current financial constraints makes it difficult for government to pay timely.

Mr Mensah alleged that the Administrator of Common Fund had been borrowing to pay Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and the worrying aspect was the interest accrued on the loans the Administrator was taking to defray some of the debts owed the Assemblies.