The Dutch Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker, has reiterated the need for effective tax collection strategies to cushion national development as government pushes for a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’.
He says the Dutch government is proud to be identified with the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda, and that Holland will support the government of Ghana in its tax collection efforts.
He notes, “Internally Generated Funds (IGF), over the years, should constitute the critical component of the funds of Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies (MMDAs)”, and that IGF should be “from a range of sources to complement central government transfers (funds) and funding from development partners”.
Ambassador Strikker was speaking in Cape Coast during the launch of Tax Revenue for Economic Enhancement (TREE), a project by the VNG International of Holland, aimed at increasing the sustainability of Internally Generated Funds (IGF) in 32 Metropolitan/Municipal/District Assemblies selected from the Central, Western and Ashanti Regions.
VNG, which is the International Cooperation Agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, is partnering the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Local Government Service, to among other objectives, improve on the institutional capacity and procedures of fourteen, twelve and six MMDAs from the Central, Ashanti and Western Regions, to collect revenues and close the local tax gap.
The launch was attended by Metropolitan/Municipal/District Chief Executives and other officials from all the thirty-two selected areas, as well as officials from VNG International and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana.
The TREE project, which runs from 2017 to 2021, has been piloted in some selected MMDAs across the country, and its success has propelled the current launching for a wider implementation.
A significant component of TREE is the deployment of an Information Technology (IT) solution called the Taxman software, which is to help block leakages in the revenue administration system and the collection of property rates, business operating permits and building permits by the MMDAs.
In his speech, the Head of Local Government Service, Ing. Nana Ato-Arthur, stressed that the project “will help the Assemblies to mobilize IGF in a reliable and sustainable manner, through the installation of proper links between costs and benefits of service provision to the citizens”.
In the Central Region, assemblies selected include Ekumfi, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Mfantseman, Ejumako-Enyan-Esiam and Cape Coast.
On his part, the Central Regional Minister, Kwamina Duncan, said the selected MMDAs in the Central Region are poised to make the project impact on development in the Region.
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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana