Involve SMEs in fixing rates - Afriyie-Badu

Accra, Oct. 20, GNA - Mr. Kwesi Afriyie-Badu, Chief Executive Officer of KAB Governance Consult on Tuesday, called for the involvement of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) operators in the fixing of rates as stipulated in the 1992 Constitution.

He said research conducted into the operations of SMEs in the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) indicated that some laws pertaining to their operations were being flouted.

Mr Afriyie-Badu made the call when the National Executive Committee of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), paid a courtesy call on Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in Accra. He said the research indicated that the fees set for SME operators were not equitable but differed from each other and without their consent. "We also discovered that deductions from the District Assemblies Common Fund by the government and items purchased without resolutions by the assemblies and proper is strain on the fund," Mr Afriyie-Badu said. Mr. Ransford Tetteh, GJA President, said with assistance from the Business Advocacy (BUSAC) and KAB Governance Consult as service operators, the GJA had since 2006 galvanised the media to provide coverage on activities of the SME. He explained that it was the association's quest to educate Ghanaians on the role of the SMEs in socio-economic development, develop economic journalism, shore up public interest in developmental issues, and contribute towards the alleviation of poverty. Mr. Yieleh Chireh pledged government's determination to ensure that the assemblies received all the needed assistance and to stop Parliamentarians from having share in the Common Fund to allow assemblies execute their projects successfully. 20 Oct. 09