GH¢25m allowance for assembly members released by Govt

The government has released the initial payment of GH¢25 million for non-taxable allowance for assembly members within the country. The amount, which was disbursed by the Ministry of Finance on June 18, this year, has been paid out to the 261 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to cover allowances for assembly members for April and May.

Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, who disclosed this at a press briefing on  July 15, 2025, said each of the 9,085 assembly members in the country would receive GH¢1,300. He pointed out that the Local Government Ministry received GH¢25 million from the Ministry of Finance and paid over GH¢23.6 million to the assemblies for two months’ allowance payments.

The Banda Member of Parliament said the rest of the funds has been deposited into an account and would be added until the next payment to cover the next three months. Ahmed Ibrahim said that “We did not do any editing to the figures from the Finance Ministry before disbursement to the MMDAs, so no Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executive (MMDCE) should touch that money. It is meant for the assembly members to properly monitor government projects in their electoral areas.”

As part of his electoral pledge to deepen decentralisation, President John Dramani Mahama promised to pay allowances to all assembly members to support their work.

He indicated that the initiative was to aid their operations in discharging their responsibilities as expected of them. After President Mahama’s electoral victory, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, allocated GH¢100 million in the 2025 Budget and Financial Statement submitted to Parliament for the payment of the assembly members.

Mr Ibrahim said the keeping that promise to assembly members was more than historic and it also shows how dedicated the government is to enhancing local governance and promoting participatory local governance. He said apart from the payment of allowance for assembly members, the government was also taking actions to make sure the centralisation of resources was reversed.

He stressed that “Very soon, my team will go round the country to monitor how the assemblies are applying the moneys that are being disbursed to them. We are resetting the country, and every money released to us must be judiciously used.”

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