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Government providing GH¢60
million for Assembly projects
Koforidua, July 24, Ghanadot/GNA - The Government has
earmarked GH¢60 million (60 billion cedis) of funds from the
Highly Indebted Poor Country relief for street naming and a
house numbering exercise in all regional capitals and major
towns in the country.
The project, to be completed by March next year, is expected
to enhance the capacity of Assemblies, particularly their
internally generated funds by at least 50 to 200 percent.
Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, Deputy Minister, Local Government,
Rural Development and Environment, announced this at a
Workshop on the proposed Local Government Finance Bill for
Regional Coordinating Councils (RCC) and Assemblies from the
Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions in Koforidua on
Tuesday.
He said the Bill sought to provide a comprehensive law to
guide the Assemblies in raising private capital and other
resources.
"Consequently, the bill establishes a Municipal Finance
Authority (MFA) with a mandate to mobilize resources from
both internal and external sources, channel them into
productive infrastructure development and manage risk".
Mr Odoom said the Municipal Finance and Management
Initiative was aimed at improving revenue and financing
strategies of Assemblies and more importantly to link them
to the financial market through the proposed MFA.
He said the country had come a long way in its decentralized
system and expressed optimism that a smooth take-off of the
project would lead to increased revenue generation by the
assemblies.
Mr Yaw Barimah, Eastern Regional Minister, said in recent
years the country had been undertaking political
decentralization, adding that the trend demanded that local
governments strengthened their financial capacity.
He said decentralization was based on the recognition that
participation of key local stakeholders, including local
governments and communities was critical for economic growth
and poverty reduction.
GNA
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