[ 2014-07-20 ]

Accessing PWDs Share of the Common Fund
Adentan, July 20, GNA – Stakeholders have called
for better monitoring, evaluation and management
of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF)
allotted to Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) to
ensure its sustainability.

The allocation of the two percent share of the
DACF to PWDs is meant to provide them with
employable skills and assistance to brave societal
challenges, reduce poverty and enhance their
social image.

However, teething problems arising from the
management, allocation, disbursement, recovery of
the funds could derail its intended purposes.

These came to the fore at a Stakeholders Dialogue
held at the Adentan Municipal Assembly premises
recently.

A policy brief (2014) titled “Making the two
percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund
Work for Persons With Disability cites Article 41
of the Disability Act which mandates the National
Council on Persons with Disability (NCPWD) to
propose policies and strategies allowing PWDs to
participate in national development”.

This also requires that the NCPWD, in
collaboration with other stakeholders, abide by
the guidelines developed in 2007 for the
disbursement and management of the two percent
share of the DACF for PWDs.

The disbursement and management of the two percent
of the DACF for PWDs has thus become a great
relief to PWDs who, hitherto, were unable to
access their fair share of the fund.

For the judicious disbursement and management of
this fund, all District Assemblies have opened
separate disability bank accounts and set up
District Fund Management Committees (DFMCs) to
oversee its proper administration.

The success and sustainability of the
implementation of the guidelines will however
depend on how efficiently and effectively
structures put in place are made to work.

The fund to PWDs is used for varied purposes such
as paying school fees, setting up small-scale
businesses or for settling medical bills.

Ms Nora Ollenu, Chief Executive Officer of
Intervention Forum (IF), a non-governmental
organization, and focal person for Adentan
District Citizen Monitoring Committee (DCMC),
briefed stakeholders on the rationale for the
dialogue.

If, the focal NGO for Adentan Municipal Assembly
under the Send-Ghana Grassroots Economic Literacy
and Advocacy programme (GELAP), seeks to promote
good governance practices of accountability,
transparency and citizen participation in local
governance.

Ms Ollenu explained that the DCMC was tasked by
Send-Ghana to collect data on the management of
the two percent of the PWDs share of the DACF.

She said the research information was extensively
gathered from Adentan, adding that the good work
done by the DCMC had given the platform for the
dialogue.

The forum was thus to give an account of findings
and recommendations and thereby identify gaps in
the management of the PWDs share of the DACF.

“As advocates or agents of change, we are not
here only concerned only to promote demand side
accountability and transparency in the management
of the funds.

“But we are also equally concerned about
ensuring that there is greater downward
accountability and that pro-poor programme
beneficiaries are using resources in a way that
leads to the attainment of programme objectives
and the strategic vision regarding the national
development agenda on poverty alleviation,” Ms
Ollenu stated emphatically.

The dialogue was again to ascertain whether or not
monies allocated to PWDs was working for them.

Harriet Nuamah Agyemang, Programme Officer of
Send-Ghana, sensitized the stakeholders on issues
relating to the management and disbursement of the
PWDs share of the DACF.

She touched on a number of issues, which ranged
from representation on the National Council on
Persons with Disability (NCPWD); capacity building
for the DCMCs and PWDs on the guidelines; and how
information regarding the release of funds was
communicated to stakeholders.

Mr.Bernard K.P.Sakyiama, Deputy Municipal
Coordinating Director, Adenta Municipal Assembly
(AdMA), said platforms like the dialogue gave the
assembly the opportunity to review the operations
of the Fund and assess the gains and lapses so as
to chart the way forward.

The dialogue examined the mode of application,
processes and criteria for selection and approval
of the fund to beneficiaries, as well as the
quantum of funds and number of times an applicant
could access.

Other issues bordered on the mode of payment
(cheques or cash or both),and whether the DCMC
received returns in terms of receipt from PWDs,
especially those for health and education, the
number of times the DFMCs conducted monitoring
visits, as well as sanctions for beneficiaries who
abused the system.

As it turned out, a few problems regarding the
disbursement of the fund, its monitoring and
recovery surfaced at the meeting. For example,
some persons who had applied for the fund could
not be easily traced due to a variety of reasons.

Mr.Wisdom W. Atiase, Head of Department of Social
Welfare, managers of the fund, attributed the
ineffectiveness of the allocation of funds
designated to PWDs to insufficient personal data
or information, wrong addresses and difficulty in
tracing applicants.

“Though varying amounts have been approved for
some applicants, most of these people cannot be
traced, while others have simply refused to follow
up,” he said, drawing out a long list of
beneficiaries and amounts allocated to them.

The issue was even worse for hearing impaired,
dumb and deaf persons who provided telephone
numbers and contact addresses that failed to go
through.

In an interactive session, the stakeholders agreed
on a number of issues. These included effective
monitoring of the use of the funds allocated to
beneficiaries, vetting procedures of applications;
amendments of the guidelines for members of the
DFMC; and information sharing, especially between
the AdMA and the Department of Social Welfare,
managers of the two percent share of the DACF.

The Department of Social Welfare agreed to update
stakeholders regularly on the statement of
accounts on the Disability Fund, and produce
quarterly statements of account on the Fund.

The dialogue agreed on the necessity to institute
sanctions against beneficiaries who misapply
monies allocated to them as well as the need for
proper auditing of the mode of expenditure of the
fund.

The dialogue proposed that funds approved for
applicants be substantial to enable them to do
better work with it and not dole out monies fit
for only hand-to-mouth purposes.

They also asked applicants to pass through their
group representatives and simply the process,
particularly for the hearing impaired, deaf and
dumb.

The meeting asked the Municipal Coordinating
Director to provide regular information on the
status of the Fund and put all DFMC issues on the
agenda of AdMA meetings.

The Dialogue proposed that all official
notifications of beneficiaries be pasted on the
AdMA notice Board and make information flow to
successful applicants, especially on the
availability of funds in the disability fund.

Some PWDs said they had benefited from the Fund
after going through the process, which sometimes
takes time, depending on the availability of the
amount of money in the kitty.

Mr. Philip Derrick Asare, member of the Adentan
Disability Fund Management Committee (DFMC), said
he had already benefited from the fund for
educational purposes.

Ms Sefakor Tamakloe said she had also benefited
from the Fund to undertake a small-scale business
in liquid soap making and shampoo.

“Though I applied for 1,000 Ghana Cedis, I was
given 5000 cedis but I intend to apply for another
fund to do a trainer of trainers programme in soap
making,” she stated.

While agreeing on the need for capacity building
for members of the DFMC, the stakeholders said
the five percent of the funds allocated for
administrative duties was insufficient and hardly
left anything for monitoring and evaluation
activities.

Ms Nuamah Agyemang said later Send-Ghana would
organize a national dialogue I the course of the
year to follow up on what stakeholders had agreed
to do.

That suggests, perhaps, that government must take
another hard look at the percent doled out to PWDs
to allow for a more meaningful impact on the
living standards of PWDs.

Source - GNA

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