Performance of MMDAs in VR consistently decline


By Edmund Smith-Asante

The Auditor General’s report on the accounts of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) has revealed a consistent decline in the performance of assemblies in the Volta Region.

It stated that in 2012, for instance, while 22 assemblies prepared and submitted their financial statements for audit validation, the number declined to 19 in 2013.

The year 2014 witnessed the worse performance as 14 assemblies out of 25 submitted their financial statements for validation.

“Nkwanta South has defaulted for three consecutive years, with Jasikan and Kadjebi assemblies defaulting for two consecutive years,” the report stressed.

To check the discrepancies, the Auditor General, Mr Richard Q. Quartey, re-emphasised the need for penalties to be imposed on defaulting officials.

“I once again recommend that the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, the Head of Service, and the Local Government Service Secretariat (LGSS) should impose penalties on key officials of the assemblies found to have indulged in grave offences as a measure to deter recurrence of the offences.”

General performance good
In spite of the underperformance story from the Volta Region, the report on the financial year ending December 31, 2014, was a marked improvement in the number of MMDAs, which submitted their financial statements for auditing.

It said “For the financial year ending December 31, 2014, 195 out of the 216 assemblies submitted their 2014 financial statements for audit validation and publication, thereby satisfying the provision under Part VII Sections 77 and 78 of the Financial Memoranda for District Assemblies. This showed yet another improvement of the previous years’ performances.”

The number of assemblies that submitted their financial statements for audit validation increased from 169 out of 216 MMDAs in 2012, to 186 in 2013 and 195 in 2014.

Total revenue and expenditure
The report stated further that the 195 assemblies whose financial statements were validated operated with a total revenue of GH¢956,680,350.68 during the 2014 financial year, which comprised of internally generated funds (IGFs), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), government grants and donor funding.

Government grants came in the form of salary payments to employees and budgetary support to decentralised departments, while donor funding included support under the District Development Facility and the Urban Development Grant, among others.

The audit showed the total expenditure incurred by the 195 assemblies as GH¢892,769,692.53, which, compared with their revenue of GH¢956,680,350.68, gave a surplus of GH¢63,910,658.15.

It, however, indicated that 52 assemblies recorded deficits in their operations with some posting deficits in excess of GH¢2 million. Majority of the assemblies also ended the year with surpluses, with the metropolitan assemblies recording comparatively high figures, some in the region of GH¢10 million as a result of the late receipt of incomes that were not disbursed.

Internally Generated Funds and bank balances
The report recorded GH¢187,028,624.39 as the total funds collected from internal sources by the 195 assemblies, which accounted for 19.5 per cent of the total revenue of the assemblies.

“IGF collections have generally been low across board except for the metropolitan assemblies and the assemblies royalties from mineral resources,” the report stated.

Touching on bank balances, the report stated, “The cash resources of the assemblies as at the end of the year totalled GH¢170,255,992.61. None of the assemblies reported overdrawn bank balances with as many as 179 of them having balances in excess of GH¢100,000.00 and 39 in excess of GH¢1 million.”
It indicated further that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had the highest cash and bank balance of GH¢39,497,810.00, followed by the Kumasi (GH¢14,017,801.03), Sekondi-Takoradi (GH¢6,094,002.80), Tamale (GH¢4,582,755.15) and Tema (GH¢4,485,614.02) metropolitan assemblies, with the Aowin/Suaman District Assembly posting the least balance of GH¢6,865.80.

Total investment, however, stood at GH¢12,506,393.69 in the books of 101 assemblies comprising mainly of unpaid Poverty Alleviation Fund loans, equity shares in banks as well as investments in interest bearing banking products.

Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh

This story was first published by the Daily Graphic on March 10, 2016


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