Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister for Finance, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), to prioritise the implementation of the strategies/activities in the Revenue Improvement Action Plan (RIAP) to improve revenue mobilisation and fiscal management. He said the RIAP served as a valuable tool, and its successful implementation held the potential to significantly enhance revenue mobilisation for the MMDAs, adding ‘Therefore, I strongly encourage the Budget Committees to explore innovative strategies and corresponding activities that will aid us in attaining our shared objective.’ Mr Ofori-Atta made the call in a speech read on his behalf by Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, at the Northern Regional Composite Budget hearings in Tamale. During the exercise, authorities of the MMDAs in the region took turns to present their Composite Budgets for 2024 – 2027. Mr Ofori-Atta urged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Coordinating Directors to take the lead in advancing the RIAP for improved revenue mobilisation, emphasising the need for them to ensure that once the General Assembly approved the by-laws and rate imposts, they were gazetted to provide the necessary legal foundation for enforcing compliance and pursuing legal action against defaulters. He called on the MMDAs to activate and reinforce their sub-structures (Sub-Metros, Urban/Town/Area, and Zonal Councils) ensuring they were fully operational to strengthen revenue mobilisation efforts and effectively carry out their delegated responsibilities. He emphasised need for them to follow due process to implement their approved budgets, saying ‘It is crucial to emphasise that the use of GIFMIS Financials is not merely a suggestion, but a legal requirement as stipulated in Section 25 (6) of the Public Financial Management Action 2016, Act 921.’ He called on them to ensure that all budgetary and financial transactions were executed through the GIFMIS system to streamline reporting and enable prompt decision-making, adding compliance with the use of GIFMIS Financials was instrumental in mitigating or even eliminating the audit irregularities. Mr Ofori-Atta also urged the MMDAs to prioritise ongoing projects and said to avoid expenditure commitments crystallising into judgement debt and huge expenditure arrears, capital expenditure budgeting for projects in 2024 should ensure arrears clearance, outstanding payments, non-accumulation of new arrears as well as speedy completion of such projects as contained in the Public Financial Management (Public Investment Management) Regulations, 2020, L.I. 2411. He said, ‘To improve ownership and enhance transparency and accountability, the 2024 Composite Budget to be approved by the General Assembly should be signed off by the Presiding Member and the Coordinating Director prior to submission to the Regional Coordinating Councils for onward submission to the Ministry of Finance by November 03, this year.’
Source: Ghana News Agency