The Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Seth Kwame Acheampong has urged MMDAs in the region to strengthen the sub-structures; Urban/ Area Zonal Councils which are set up by law to deliver delegated functions on behalf of the District Assembly for efficient revenue mobilisation in their respective districts.
“There is the need to operationalise and strengthen these Structures and make them functional to support the revenue mobilization drive as well as deliver on the delegated functions” he stressed.
Hon. Seth Acheampong made this statement when he addressed MDCEs, Coordinating Directors, and staff of MDAs at this year’s Regional Budget Hearing at the Conference room of the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council ( ERCC).
The purpose of the Regional Budget Hearing was to enable the RCC to technically review the budget prepared by the assemblies, whether it has been prepared according to the requirement in the Budget Preparation Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance, and whether it actually meets the standards as directed by the said ministry.
He further encouraged them to follow the due process in the implementation of the approved Budget adding that GIFMIS Financials has been isolated by law; Section 25 (6) of the Public Financial Management Act 2016, Act 921, to ensure that the Budget and all financial transactions were implemented using the system to facilitate reporting for timely decision making.
Hon. Acheampong consequently called for the need to support and strengthen the Internal Audit functions at the MDAs level as well as the Audit Committees to enable them to work independently to ensure integrity in the financial management systems, to help improve public service delivery and avert being cited annually for Audit infractions.
The Regional Budget Analyst who doubled as the Acting Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr John Donkor was hopeful that all MDA’s have taken cognisance of the provisions in the 2023-2026 Budget MDAs preparation Guidelines, and the presentation required format, and have also provided the status of implementation of 2022 budget.
He thanked the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralisation and GIZ for the continuous support towards deepening decentralisation and local governance and for particularly, prioritising and supporting the Eastern Region.
The hearing was monitored by Mr Yaw Scott of the IT unit and Mr Prosper Abuonor, both from the Ministry of Finance.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
