A deputy Minister-designate for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah, has said the time has come for the local assemblies to be adequately resourced financially in order to carry out the mandate effectively.
One of ways to make the assemblies more resourceful, he noted, is the introduction of a financial bill for the assemblies.
The bill, he added, will empower the local assemblies to become independent to freely enter the open market to look for funds to finance their numerous programmes and activities other than relying solely on the usual District Assemblies Common Fund and their internally generated funds.
“This financial bill will empower the assemblies to find monies to be able to carry out their programmes. The assemblies need a lot of money to carry out their functions”, he noted.
Mr. Amoah, who is also the honourable Member of Parliament (MP) for Akuapem South, made this observation when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, for cross examination of his knowledge and understanding of the portfolio he has been nominated to by the President of the Republic of Ghana to handle.
Prior to making this suggestion, the Akuapem South lawmaker had given overview of how most of the local assemblies in the country were struggling to fund their programmes and activities.
For instance, he said the main source of revenue for all the local assemblies is the District Assemblies Common Fund which they use to finance major projects like road construction, street lighting, construction of drainage systems among others. Another, he noted, is internally generated funds (IGF).
These monies have never been enough, a situation he said makes it so difficult for most of the assemblies to complete the major projects they initiate.
However, with the introduction of a financial bill, the difficulties the assemblies face will become a thing of the past since it will empower them to raise more money to fund their programmes and activities he argued.
