Her Lordship, who made the suggestion today, [Tuesday] in the Upper East Region during a three-day working visit, explained that, the unfavorable conditions of Ghana’s courts and the inconvenience caused by lack of courts in some districts, is hindering the delivery of justice.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NJt9mSy8xxXd8JMAeAuqr2yT2rv0eQq9″]A tour of the six courts in thirteen districts in the Upper East Region, showed that some of them had not seen any renovation works over the past years.

It was against this backdrop, that the Chief Justice, Sophia  Akuffo, underscored the need for part of the district assemblies’ common fund to be used to rehabilitate and build new courts for easy access and quality delivery  of Justice.

Chief Justice Sophia  Akuffo, also hinted that, judges will soon be required to adopt the use of technology in the adjudication and delivery of justice.

“We are going to have a holistic approach to address the dilapidated courts in the country.  So we will try and at least begin a program of serious rehabilitation, renovation, proper maintenance and even sometimes replacement of our courts. We are coming with an arrangement with the administrator of the district assembly common fund so that, they make sure that, part of that fund if not all of it, is spent on building  new courts  in districts without courts and where there are, and in a mess, that those district courts are refurbished.”

“It is my hope that, by the time that my term ends, we would have completed a significant numbers of constructions, refurbishment, rehabilitation and repairs of our courts.”

Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo hinted that, judges will soon be required to adopt the use of technology in the adjudication and delivery of justice.

“From the districts courts through to the hierarchy of courts, judges would need to adopt the use of technology in the adjudication and delivery of justice, because we do see cases which have taken so long before reaching the Supreme Court, you wonder whether there is any value met by the litigants. Judicial outcomes must add some value to the people who come to the courts and many times, the timeliness of delivery of justice is key.”

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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His assertion was in agreement with the Citi Breakfast Show discussion on Tuesday, spearheaded by Host Bernard Avle, which advocated the need for government to reduce or in some case cut subventions to MMDAs to enable them generate their own revenue for the needed development.

The Citi CBS discussants were of the view that when this happens, government can then spend such monies to develop the rural parts of Ghana in less-endowed assemblies by providing them with basic amenities.

Bernard Avle, who made the proposals ahead of the 2018 budget statement to be delivered on November 15, 2017, made a direct appeal to the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, to consider these proposals in order to wean the country from aid and loans.

Most of the MMDAs depend on some statutory funds especially the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to undertake development projects within the local assemblies.

The government releases to the assemblies often delay for several months before they are released.

Regardless of these amounts, assemblies also rely on internally generated funds, amount many believe should be enough to adequately cater for assemblies’ needs if loopholes are blocked and proper tax systems are in place.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xWuM0RRhDwtGeUvtMzakWWOumtlodXrd”]Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, the Tema MCE agreed that they can do without full government support if adequate measures are put in place to beef up internal mobilization of revenue.

He noted that the funds they generate internally are even more than what they receive from government.

“In Tema, our IGF is always more than what we get from common fund. It has never been a case where common fund will be bigger than IGF. It is about four times what we receive from common fund,” he said.

When asked by show host, Bernard Avle whether the Tema Metropolitan Assembly would be able to raise enough money to undertake development projects without receiving DACF, Mr. Anang-La said “sure, we can do that.”

The MCE said his outfit makes a lot from property rates, business operating permits, sewerage permits among others.

“There are a lot of [revenue] leakages that we are putting measures in place to get them blocked.”

“We in TMA have decided to go in for a private consultant who is going to work in close relation with our engineers so that we do property-rate checks. Even normal permits, some people find ways and means to pay less than they ought to. All these are draining the assembly. Even those who are paying are paying less than they ought to. The property rates, business operating permits and the money that we receive from our sewerage permit. Always, the business operating permits give us more,” he added.

Awutu Senya East can also survive

Alhaji Danaa, an Assembly member for Iron City in the Awutu Senya East District in the Central Region, who also shared his views on the Citi Breakfast Show, attested to the fact that the districts could make it without the support of government.

He is of the view that this would be achieved if revenue loopholes are blocked.

He however advised that “if the government will put in the measures that will prevent revenue collectors from stealing the money, all what I can say is that we can only make it at the assembly level. The government will get huge sums of money if they are able to put a stop to all these things.”
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post MMDAs can survive without common fund – Tema MCE appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Out of a total of GHc 33,392,496.94 released to the assemblies in the Greater Accra Region in 2016, GHc 1,589,612.14, representing 4.76% was not properly accounted for according to the report.

iWatch Africa’s assessment of the Auditor General’s report also revealed that, out of a total GHc 352,286,432.22 allotted to all 216 Assemblies, GHc 70,173,645.97, representing 19.92% was not properly accounted for.

Assemblies in the Volta Region mismanaged most of the funds that were allotted them.

Out of a total of GHc 39,846,537.39 released to the twelve Assemblies in the Volta Region in 2016, GHc 13,428,234.45, representing 33%, was not properly accounted for.

This finding is alarming, especially as the current administration expects 85% of local government budget for 2017 to be funded by donors.

Below is an infographic report:

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Source: iWatch Africa

The post Regional Ranking: How MMDAs mismanaged Common Fund cash [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Per the constitution, not less than 5 percent of national revenue is to be allocated to the Common Fund for disbursement to various assemblies, but over the years, payments delay, thus affecting development at the local level.

[contextly_sidebar id=”mrLrZeHzIXce5QXGWLWXRS43it1hH6C6″]Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, Irene Naa Toshie Addo said a combination of extensive lobbying and borrowing from banks to fill the gap can deal with the problem.

Naa Torshie said, she will lobby “the Finance Minister and keep on pushing…and I’m going to involve Parliament—Finance, committee, local government committee, leadership.”

“I will be knocking on your doors; you have to help, if given the nod, to make sure the money comes in and the right amount comes in. That is very important… If I’m given the nod, once we have the power to be able to invest some of the money to be able to accrue some interest, I’m looking at, with the permission of my minister, bringing certain proposals like this to Parliament to find out whether or not in certain circumstances, just to keep the timelines so that there is no disappointments so that they can plan and manage their areas…I’m thinking about innovative things like that, maybe being allowed at certain times to borrow money for them and pay when the fund comes in,” she added.

Naa Torshie Addo also stated that, the government’s one million dollar per constituency programme, could affect the formula for the distribution of the Common Fund.

“…Directly, it will not affect the formula but as time goes on, it could affect the formula. When you look at basic needs, the districts that have more schools and hospitals are given less, while those who have less are given more. So with the coming in of this money, if people build more schools, hospitals, among others, they get less of the DACF. But that is not to say that they should build more schools. It could affect it in the long-term.”

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Naa Torshie advocates borrowing by MMDAs from local banks appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.