Minister asks MMDAs to submit reports on time

Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, on Tuesday advised metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDA’s) to submit required documents and reports on time to the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and other state institutions.

This, he, said would enable the government to find ways of developing the region.

Mr Aidoo warned that any MMDA in the region which fails to submit its annual assessment and report would be sanctioned.

The Regional Minister gave the advice in a speech read on his behalf at a stakeholders meeting on pre-monitoring and evaluation for metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, planning, finance and budget officers and staff of MMDAs at Tarkwa.

Mr Aidoo said a number of MMDA’s in the region have not submitted their draft Medium Term Development Plans and Monitoring and Evaluation Plans to the RCC and the National Development Planning Commission.

He said some assemblies have also defaulted in the submission of the 2014 quarterly process reports.

Mr Aidoo said submission of these reports are now being tracked at the national level and could affect the defaulting MMDAs and deprive them of funds for projects.

He said the most reliable source of funding for development activities now is the District Development Fund and Urban Development Grant and the qualification and assessment of these funds are contingent on the availability of approved Medium Term Development Plans, composite budget, annual action plans and timely submission of monthly, quarterly and annual reports by the MMDA’s.

Mrs Christina Kobinah, Tarkwa- Nsueam, Municipal Chief Executive, expressed hoped that the meeting would help improve the development agenda of the region and also contribute to the transformational agenda of the government.

Mr Emmanuel Opoku Mensah, Regional Director of Controller and Accountant General’s Department, told Ghana News Agency in an interview that financial returns submitted to agencies such as the his outfit and the regional office of the local government ministry are used as performance indicators to ensure that assemblies comply with the financial administration regulation.

He said when such reports are submitted on time, assemblies that exceed their budget for the year are checked and those who perform low in terms of achieving their targeted revenue are assisted to improve.