A Ghanaian citizen, Dr. Yaw Twerefour, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of allocating District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) monies to Members of Parliament (MPs).
The suit, filed under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, names the Attorney-General, the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, and the Minister for Finance as defendants.
At the centre of the case is the long-standing practice of setting aside portions of the DACF for MPs through arrangements such as the MPs Common Fund, Constituency Labour Projects, and Constituency Labour Monitoring and Evaluation programmes.
Dr. Twerefour argues that these allocations violate Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, which established the DACF to support Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
According to the plaintiff, the fund exists solely for the administration and development activities of District Assemblies and should not be allocated to MPs or any other persons outside the constitutional framework.
He is asking the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional any DACF distribution formula that earmarks funds for Members of Parliament.
The suit also challenges the reported practice of paying DACF monies directly into the personal bank accounts of MPs.
Dr. Twerefour contends that the practice breaches constitutional provisions governing public finance and undermines transparency, accountability and effective financial management.
He argues that once public funds enter personal accounts, monitoring and auditing become more difficult, increasing the risk of misuse and financial loss to the state.
The plaintiff further maintains that the practice frustrates the constitutional mandate of the Auditor-General to track and account for public expenditure.
Among the reliefs sought, Dr. Twerefour wants the Supreme Court to issue a perpetual injunction preventing the allocation or disbursement of DACF monies to MPs outside the framework of District Assemblies.
He is also seeking an order directing that future DACF disbursements be paid only into designated public accounts belonging to District Assemblies in line with the Constitution and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
In addition, he wants the court to order the Auditor-General to conduct a comprehensive audit of all DACF monies previously disbursed to MPs and report on how the funds were used.
The suit also seeks the recovery of any monies found to have been unlawfully disbursed.
Alongside the substantive case, Dr. Twerefour has filed an application for an interlocutory injunction to stop any further payments from the DACF to Members of Parliament until the Supreme Court delivers its final ruling.
The application seeks to restrain both the Administrator of the DACF and the Minister for Finance from authorising or making payments to MPs under existing arrangements.
It also seeks to prevent the transfer of DACF monies into MPs’ personal bank accounts while the case is pending.
In an affidavit supporting the application, Dr. Twerefour states that he obtained official DACF formula documents through the Right to Information Act.
According to him, the documents show that portions of the fund have been allocated to Members of Parliament.
He also cites a special audit report commissioned by the Ministry of Finance, which he says revealed that DACF monies were paid directly into MPs’ personal accounts and that some payments lacked adequate supporting documentation.
The plaintiff argues that the alleged constitutional violations are ongoing and that public funds could be lost if the court does not intervene immediately.
He maintains that monetary compensation would not be an adequate remedy because public funds, once spent, may be difficult to recover.
The case is expected to test the constitutional limits of parliamentary involvement in the administration of the District Assemblies Common Fund.
Legal observers say the outcome could have significant implications for decentralisation, public financial management, accountability and the future administration of the DACF in Ghana.
