The Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Builsa South Constituency in the Upper East Region, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, has voiced his opposition to the government’s practice of diverting funds from the Assembly Common Fund, especially at a time when public basic education is grappling with significant challenges.
Dr. Apaak raised concerns about the allocation of Common Fund resources towards projects like AstroTurfs, questioning the prioritization of such endeavors over addressing the urgent needs of public education.
He contended that while investing in infrastructure such as AstroTurfs may have its merits, it should not supersede the imperative of allocating sufficient resources to enhance the quality of basic education.
“Mr Speaker while it is admirable that some allocation has been made to support education. I wish to state emphatically that given the current challenges that we face, particularly in the rural parts of this country to do with inadequate and lack of educational infrastructure for basic schools, where we have several communities which have population sufficient to begin education. We ought to take another look of allocating monies for the construction of astro turfs.
“Why will we prioritize Astro turf over building kindergartens, prioritize Astro turf over procuring furniture for over 1.3 million Ghanaian students who have to sit on bare floor or stones to study, “he added.
The District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) was established with the aim of channeling financial resources from the central government to local governments (MMDAs).
Meanwhile, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has pledged to increase the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) from the current 5% to 7% should he win the 2024 elections.
It is imprudent to use the District Assembly Common Fund to fund AstroTurfs when our public basic education is struggling. I raised this and other matters during the debate on the 2024 District Assembly Common Fund in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/S2NOBvrXPG
— Dr. Clement Abas Apaak (@DrApaak) March 29, 2024