The leadership of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies has been advised to devise innovative ways to increase their internally generated revenue to ease pressure on the central government.
Mr Ebo Amuah, the Head of Fiscal Decentralisation Unit of the Ministry of Finance, said the government desired to move the country beyond aid and steps have been taken to achieve that aim, therefore, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive Officers (MMDCEs) should work out modalities to move the Assemblies beyond central government finance.
“As the President is working toward Ghana beyond aid, MMDCEs should also aim beyond Central Government aid’, he emphasized.
He said the Assemblies could create the enabling environment for businesses so that they, in turn, mobilize revenue for socio-economic development.
“Support Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in your areas to thrive because they are catalysts for revenue generation,” he added.
Mr Ebo Amuah was addressing 69 MMDCEs from Eastern, Western and Central Regions at Cape Coast at a three-day training on the topic; Local Government Revenues, Distribution, and Management of Public Funds: Internal Control and Auditing Requirements.
He noted that the Assemblies could also create a database of all the economic activities in their area to estimate internal revenue projections to enable proper planning of physical developments.
He said the Assemblies should devise a system that would enable them to account for every pesewa collected from their residents to instil confidence in the proper usage of revenue collected.
He added that the Assemblies could also automise their internal revenue generation systems to rake in more money for development.
He called on the MMDCEs to provide leadership for effective and efficient service delivery.
ISD
