The Minister of Local Government, Chieftancy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, has called for a designated budget scheme to be given to Regional Coordinating Councils(RCCs) to enable them work effectively and strengthen decentralisation in the country. 

According to him, the dependence of RCCs on the District Assemblies Common Fund limits their ability  to carry out their supervisory and coordinating functions effectively.

Speaking at the National Dialogue on Decentralisation and Responsive Governance by the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on August 10, 2026, Ahmed Ibrahim said a separate budget fund would compliment their operations in monitoring and development activities across the regions.

“You strengthen them by giving them budgets. The Ministry of Finance, the RCC cannot be dependent on Common Fund. They must be given a separate budget,” he said 

He argued that effective supervision is critical to improving the performance of decentralised institutions, stressing that resources must be made available.

“Somebody said you get better results from what is inspected, not what is expected. Expectations are wishes. But inspection brings efficiency and effectiveness,” he added.

He also emphasised the need for Regional Ministers and RCCs to have resources to identify and support economic opportunities within their regions.

He said: “Without dedicated funding, regional authorities would struggle to undertake initiatives that could stimulate local economic development.They have no budget to initiate, to do prospecting. Clearly, to be able to build independent and self-reliant [institutions], we need the resources.”

He reharshed his call for stronger financial autonomy for local assemblies, arguing that the passage of the proposed Municipal Finance Bill could give assemblies greater capacity to undertake major development projects.

He also acknowledged concerns about corruption at the local level but said existing accountability mechanisms provide sufficient oversight.

He further maintained that concerns over accountability should not prevent efforts to strengthen the financial and administrative capacity of RCCs and local assemblies.