GA EAST COMMENDED FOR IMPROVED IGF MOBILIZING FOR 2020 AS MCE ADDRESSES ZONE 5 OF GREATER ACCRA REGIONAL BUDGET HEARING - MCE ASSURES RESIDENTS OF IMPROVED PROVISION OF SOCIAL SERVICES

GEMANEWS: Wednesday, 20th October, 2021; Teiman

The Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA) has been highly 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. This remark was made at the Zone Five (5) of the Greater Accra Regional Budget Hearing hosted by the Assembly at the Hill View Guest Centre at Teiman, near Abokobi.

The Regional Budget Hearing, 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.

This 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.

This year's Regional Budget Hearing saw the MMDAs zoned into ten (10) to enable the participating Assemblies to have adequate time and space to present and discuss their respective budgets.

Ga East Municipal Assembly hosted the Zone 5 which involved the Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly and Shai Osudoku District Assembly (SODA).

The presentations were supervised and assessed by the officials from the National Technical Working Team, the RCC and the OHLGS.

A presentation by the Ga East Municipal Assembly spearheaded by the MCE, Hon. 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.

Both the National Technical Working Team and the RCC, headed by Mr Prince Amoako-Yeboah and Mr. Sammy Lee Simpiney, the Regional Budget Analyst, praised Ga East Municipal Assembly for the extraordinary performance in IGF mobilization in a COVID-19-ravaged year.

They also commended the Assembly for the enormous work done in 2020 in the areas of public sensitization on, and enforcement of the COVID-19 prevention protocols, infrastructure and Stakeholder Engagements.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), Hon. Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, 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.

Hon. 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", Hon. Kaakie further stated.

The Municipal Coordinating Director (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.

The MCE for Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly, Hon. Alhaji Mohammed Quaye was in attendance and lead the presentation by his Assembly.

The Coordinating Directors and some key Heads of Departments from the sister Assemblies joined their colleagues from Ga East for the programme.

The Presiding Member (PM) for GEMA, Hon. Jesse Nii Noi Anum, and his colleagues from the GCMA and SODA were also in attendance while Hon. Samuel Nii Adjetey Mohenu, Chief of Abokobi, and Nene Sabutey from the Shai Osudoku Traditional Area, were among the Traditional Leaders who attended the Hearing.

The Chairpersons for Works and Development Planning Sub-Committees of the participating Assemblies were also in attendance.

End.

By: Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman

Pictures by: Benjamin Andoh Takyi