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ECONOMICS

Ga East commended for improved IGF mobilization for 2020

The Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA) has been commended by the National Technical Working Team and the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) for achieving almost 100 percent Internally Generated Fund (IGF) collection in the year, 2020 during the intense period of COVID-19 at the Greater Accra Regional Budget Hearing hosted by the Assembly at the Hill View Guest Centre at Teiman.

Date Created : 10/22/2021 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Okunyin Fiifi Hackman

The Regional Budget Hearing is organized annually by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MFEP) and from the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS), forms part of the National Composite Budgeting process which gives the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) the opportunity to present their annual composite budgets for scrutiny and assessment.

The programme provides the platform for the Assemblies to present their budgets and achievements of their objectives set out and activities planned for the previous and current years as well as projections for the ensuing year.

A presentation by the Ga East Municipal Assembly spearheaded by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Assembly Mrs.Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, with support from the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD), Mrs. Vera Akuffo-Mante, and the Municipal Budget Analyst (MBA), Benedicta Obeng-Nyarko, revealed that in 2020, the Assembly generated GHC6,624,509.60 from the budgeted target of GHC6,762,620.00, representing 97.96% achievement.

The National Technical Working Team and the RCC, headed by Mr Prince Amoako-Yeboah and Mr. Sammy Lee Simpiney, the Regional Budget Analyst, praised the Assembly for the extraordinary performance in IGF mobilization in a COVID-19-ravaged year after their presentation.They also commended the Assembly for the enormous work done in 2020 in the areas of public sensitization and enforcement of the COVID-19 prevention protocols, infrastructure and Stakeholder engagements.

The MCE in her welcome address, stressed the importance of the programme, stating that "a clear, distinct and unambiguous budget will greatly affect how we deliver services to the constituents of our various communities".

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you may already be aware, a public budget is a central policy document that shows how government intends to prioritize and achieve its annual objectives. Apart from financing new and existing programmes, a budget is a primary instrument for implementing fiscal policy aimed at impacting the entire economy", she continued.

Mrs.Kaakie Mann implored her colleagues to do well to deliver on the mandate assigned them by the President.

"This occasion sends one strong signal to me as well as my other colleague MMDCE’s present, and that is to the effect that, the positions we have just assumed are not mere ceremonial ones. There are indeed high expectations from us as political heads of our various institutions to justify the confidence His Excellency the President of the Republic has reposed in us", she noted.

"Our socio-economic interventions in the form of good roads, markets, electricity and water supply, transportation, security and the overall human development of our people are the bases upon which the constituents will judge us", She further stated.

The MCD Mrs.Vera Akuffo-Mante, expressed gratitude to the National and RCC teams for supporting the Assembly to organize the programme and the education and direction they proffered to the participating Assemblies to help them fine-tune their respective budgets for approval and submission.