Improve on your internally generated fund collection – Veep tells district assemblies
Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has challenged district assemblies to develop effective strategies to improve on their Internally Generated Funds (IGF) collection and ensure the viability of the decentralization system.
He said the increase of IGF could enhance the public financial management capacity of the assemblies and enable them embark on more developmental projects.
The Vice President said this in a statement read on his behalf by the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba at the launch of the first regional composite budget hearing in Tamale.
The composite budget is a scheme that would afford the Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) the opportunity to obtain knowledge on the Assembly’s financial resources, integrate the resources of the various funding sources and incorporate the MMDAs budget into the national budgeting system.
Vice President Mahama said the new system would empower the MMDAs under Legislative Instrument 1961 and it would be answerable to the budget proposals at the local levels.
He said the new regime would provide budget allocations for the social and economic infrastructure.
Vice President Mahama said under the scheme the budget of the transferred staff and departments were to be integrated into the MMDAs budget to form the composite budget system.
Mr Thomas Appiagyie, Northern Regional Budget Officer, said as part of the scheme, Ministries, Departments and Agencies would be given financial autonomy to fast-track development at the local levels.
He said budget personnel at the district assemblies have been taken through the process of determining resources, district planning, the budget processes as well as the existing and proposed budget classification.
He said they had also been trained on accounting reporting and auditing strategies and those envisaged for the composite budgeting system.
Mr Appiagyie said the decentralisation process was essentially to develop appropriate mechanisms to ensure accountability in the local governance system.
Source: GNA