Assemblies urged to follow due process in budget implementation

Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies have been urged to follow due process in the implementation of their budgets.

This was contained in an address read on behalf of the Minister for Finance by the Bono East Regional Coordinating Director, George Padmore Mensah at a regional budget hearing on the 2022-2025 composite budgets in Atebubu.

“It is worrying to learn that some MMDCEs continue to condone the practice of implementing the approved budget without recourse to the Ghana Integrated Financial Information Management System (GIFMIS) financials and later regularize these transactions on the system,” he said, regretting the fact that finance officers who are staff of the Controller and Accountant General Department custodians of the system aid this malpractice.

“Audit reports released annually continue to indict MMDAs for financial malpractices emanating from contracting, procurement, misapplication of funds, financial misconduct, etc. There is, therefore, the need to strengthen the audit committees to enable them to support the assemblies to resolve all the queries raised and support adherence to due process in discharging our mandate” The minister said.

He asked the assemblies to pursue revenue enhancement measures with a focus on deepening the digitization agenda on revenue collection to broaden the revenue base by roping in more eligible tax and ratepayers.

Budget analysts from five districts namely: Atebubu-Amantin, Sene East, and West as well as Pru East and West made presentations on their 2022-2025 composite budgets.

The Bono East regional budget analyst, Peter Owusu Frimpong together with officials from the Ministry of Local Government Decentralization and Rural Development were on hand to make a number of inputs.

Present were; John Nyaba, Kofi Gyimah, and David Manu, District Chief Executives for Sene West, Sene East, and Pru West respectively.

Also in attendance were heads of department and traditional authorities from the affected districts.