MPs Use of the District Assembly Common Fund in Ghana; “Perception meets Practice”

Parliaments generally perform functions including oversight, legislation and representation. In many developing countries, this representation function portrays Members of Parliament (MPs) as Developmental agents in their communities. In many developing countries, this representation function portrays MPs as Developmental agents in their communities. One of the main sources of funds for MPs has been from the District Assemblies Common Fund. The Constitution of Ghana has created the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to transfer financial resources from central government to local governments (MMDAs). Out of this has been the creation of the MPs share of the DACF. The allocation is made to help MPs directly address developmental challenges in their districts. This study attempts as one of the first studies to assess the MPs Common Fund from both citizens as well as MPs perspective. This is what we term as “perception meeting practice”.