By Ray Ankomah, GNA
Teshie, May 26, GNA – A local government expert has called on civil society organizations and traditional authorities to support Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to generate adequate revenue for the development of their communities.
Mr Felix Amakye, lecturer at the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS), Madina, made the call while delivering a paper on “Strategies for Revenue Mobilization and Social Accountability” at a public forum at Teshie.
Addressing members of the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) of the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly (LekMA) second quarter forum of the year, Mr Amakye said it was incumbent upon its members to help strategize on how to maximize revenue mobilization for development.
The forum was organized by Intervention Forum (IF), a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with the LekMA and SNV-Ghana to empower SPEFA members as part of their continuing education and capacity building on local government administration.
He listed some of the strategies for revenue mobilization as credible database, good forecasting and target setting, fee fixing resolutions, public education, information communication technology (ICT), street naming and property addressing as well as valuation and revaluation.
Mr Amakye explained the rational for the strategies, while stressing the roles of citizens in revenue mobilization and the contributory roles of traditional authorities and MMDAs in optimizing revenue generation.
In a welcoming address, Madam Nora Ollennu, Chief Executive Officer of Intervention Forum and Local Capacity Builder for the LekMA SPEFA Group, said the level of planned development agenda for MMDAs depended on their capacity to work towards diversifying their financial resources and generating sustainable and supplementary funding.
‘’The onus rests upon present-day assemblies to look beyond traditional revenue sources which have been the mainstay of decentralized development in decades past and embrace workable context-specific and novel revenue generation approaches which will ultimately result in the accruement of greater financial gains.’’ she stated.
She entreated local assemblies to take cues from existing best practices across the country and the world as a whole, and work to streamline their existing revenue mobilization strategies to ensure their continued effectiveness.
“As CSOs, traditional heads, opinion leaders and citizens, we must in earnest appreciate our contributory roles so that we can effectively complement these processes and ensure that the assembly is able to achieve its targeted revenue and put such revenue to prudent use,” she said.
Mr Kofi Taylor Appiah, Municipal Planning Officer, LekMA, gave a presentation on the update of preparations toward the 2018-2021 Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP).
He briefed the citizens on the MTDP as stipulated by the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994, Act 480, which mandates the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to prescribe the format and content of development plans for districts, ministries and sector agencies.
The Act, he said, also required district assemblies to initiate and prepare district development plans and settlement structure plans in a manner prescribed by the Commission and ensure that they were prepared with full participation of the local community.
Mr Appiah explained the roles of DCEs, MMDAs, sub-metropolitan, district, urban municipal, zonal councils, unit committees, urban, town, zonal and area councils in the preparation of their development plans.
The MMDAs, he said, were required to initiate and prepare for the approval of the NDPC district development plans and settlement structure plans in the manner prescribed by the NDPC and ensure that these were prepared with the full participation of the local community.
“They are to carry out studies on development planning matters in the district including economic, social, spatial, environmental, sectoral and human settlement issues and policies, and mobilize human and physical resources for development in the district.”
In all these, Mr Appiah said the urban, town, zonal and area councils served as the rallying point of local enthusiasm in support of the development objectives of the district assembly, adding that they must provide inputs for the preparation of the plans.
This, he said, they could do by mobilizing resources for implementation, monitoring and evaluating sub-district development plans as well as participating fully during the data collection exercise and public hearings while facilitating the needs assessment in the communities during community dialogue meetings and workshops.
Mrs Sarah Agbey of SNV Ghana representative and National SPEFA Coordinator, told the citizens to take the lessons learned at the forums very seriously, saying community or personal development depended on how well they utilized knowledge, wisdom and money.
She entreated the SPEFA members to embrace these concepts and make practical use of them while building on local cultural values and strengths.
“We need to be more creative; don’t limit yourself to building schools, toilets and other structures but pay attention to all aspects of life,” she charged.
Mr Kodjoe Dekpo, Municipal Coordinating Director, who responded to a number of concerns, said the LekMA was ready to welcome suggestions and ideas with regard to the development of the municipality.
GNA
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