The government has paid GH¢93 million as consolidated allowances to assembly members across the country as part of efforts to strengthen grassroots governance and deepen decentralisation.
Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review in Parliament last Thursday, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said the payment formed part of measures aimed at supporting local governance institutions and enhancing service delivery at the community level.
The payment fulfils a campaign promise by President John Dramani Mahama to introduce consolidated allowances for assembly members.
Deepening decentralisation
Commenting on the payment in an interview with the Daily Graphic, a local government expert, Dr Richard Fiadomor, described it as a significant step towards expanding the frontiers of decentralisation and local governance in the country.
He said assembly members were the direct representatives of the people at the grassroots and played a critical role in formulating local policies and bye-laws tailored to the development needs of their electoral areas.
He explained that before the introduction of the consolidated allowance, payments to assembly members depended on the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of their respective Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
According to him, the arrangement created disparities in allowances, with assembly members in rural and peri-urban districts, where IGFs were generally low, receiving meagre sitting allowances compared to their counterparts in better-resourced assemblies.
Equity restored
Dr Fiadomor said the consolidated allowance had removed those disparities by ensuring that assembly members received the same level of allowances regardless of whether they served in metropolitan, municipal or district assemblies.
"The consolidated allowances have brought equity in the amount received by assembly members and eliminated the discrimination that previously existed in the payment of allowances," he said.
He noted that the new arrangement would enable assembly members to focus on their core responsibilities without uncertainty over whether their assemblies had sufficient resources to pay their sitting allowances.
Improved performance
Dr Fiadomor said the payment would also strengthen the oversight role of assembly members by enabling them to inspect ongoing government projects in their electoral areas.
He added that the allowances would support assembly members to organise town hall meetings to engage residents, gather their views on issues to be presented before general assembly meetings and update them on policies and bye-laws passed by the assemblies.
Timely release
Dr Fiadomor, however, appealed to the government to ensure the allowances were released promptly.
He said regular and timely payments would sustain the motivation of assembly members and prevent delays from becoming a disincentive to effective grassroots governance.
