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Allocate funds to support work on Audit Committees at MMDAs - Stakeholders

Participants at the 2023 People’s Assembly have called for allocation of funds to support the work of Audit Committees at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure the implementation of audit recommendations.

Date Created : 7/6/2023 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Albert Futukpor/ Ghanadistricts.com

This, they said, would help to strengthen the financial systems of the MMDAs and accelerate development at the local level. This formed part of their recommendations at the 2023 People’s Assembly, held in Tamale, on the theme: “Promoting the full implementation of audit recommendations to strengthen financial systems of MMDAs to accelerate development”.

The day’s event was organised by the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), an NGO, in collaboration with the Auditor-General’s office with the support of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD).

It provided the platform for participants to engage in meaningful discussions on audit recommendations as captured in the Auditor-General’s report, share experiences on the compositions and functionality of Audit Committees, and learn from each other's successes and shortcomings.

The participants included representatives from the Internal Audit Agency, MLGDRD, Ghana Audit Service, MMDAs, civil society organisations (CSOs) amongst others.

The Auditor-General annually audits and compiles reports on how MMDAs and other public establishments utilize public funds allocated to them. The audit reports mostly cite irregularities and recommend the recovery of misapplied and misappropriated funds expended, and also recommend compliance to recognise financial protocols.

However, most public entities fail to comply with, or implement the audit recommendations made against them resulting in loss of state resources and persistent weak financial systems at these entities. According to the 2021 Auditor-General’s report, the country lost GHc1 billion due to audit infractions.

This formed the focus of this year's People's Assembly, which was the sixth in the series to provide a platform for key stakeholders to deliberate and seek to influence the full implementation of audit recommendations made for MMDAs.

Mr Dan Botwe, Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, whose speech was read on his behalf at the event by Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, encouraged CSOs and citizen groups to familiarise themselves with Act 936 and leverage opportunities to collaborate with MMDAs, MoLGDRD, RCCs, the Auditor-General's office and the Internal Audit Agency.

Mr Botwe said: "This collaboration should aim at helping to cultivate a public sector work culture that emphasizes openness, accountability, and efficiency in managing and utilising public resources like District Assemblies Common Fund, Internally Generated Funds, and other statutory funds."

He said this approach would enhance responsiveness and improve performance in delivering capital projects.

Alhaji Osman Abdel-Rahman, Executive Director of GDCA, said the 2023 People’s Assembly was also "To complement the efforts of the Auditor-General, the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Internal Audit Agency, MMDAs, and MLGDRD to ensure efficient and effective utilisation of public funds and compliance with public financial management systems."

Madam Mary Awelana Addah, Acting Executive Director, Ghana Integrity Initiative, who chaired the event, called on the participants to be active citizens to promote openness and accountability in the management of the country’s resources.

A communique issued at the end of the event called for the promotion of preventive audit recommendations where the Public Accounts Committee and Auditor-General’s recommendations must begin to reflect more preventive measures in addition to recovery sanctions.

The communique called for citizen participation and engagement in the oversight of district assemblies' financial management processes. It said: "This can be achieved through the establishment of citizen-led monitoring committees, town hall meetings, and regular dissemination of audit reports to the public. This should include the Assemblies."