As a result of the disappearance of general counterfoil receipt books, members of the staff of the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies in the Ashanti Region have been interdicted.
The Regional Minister for Ashanti, Simon Osei Mensah, has expressed concern that the receipts could be used for extortion, and he has referred to the practice as alarming.
The Regional Coordinating Council has gotten the ball rolling on a comprehensive probe.
"We have even placed certain persons under interdiction. At the conclusion of the report that the committee has prepared for us, we will be aware of the next steps to take. "If it comes to the point where we have to fire some of them, we will do so," Mr. Osei Mensah stated.
Local assemblies in Offinso, Akrofuom, Atwima Mponua, and Suame are among the places where the pattern has been observed. Suame is also one of the areas.
The Chief Executive Officers, Coordinating Directors, and Finance Officers in the locations that have been affected are being held liable for the missing receipt books.
The Minister of the Regional Government lamented several ongoing auditing problems, such as the non-deduction of VAT and many other taxes.
"The RCC has also been aware that some reoccurring audit issues are not being resolved by MMDAs. This has been brought to the attention of the RCC. Among these are the failure to deduct value-added tax and the tax itself, which, even when it is deducted, is not submitted. There is likewise no record of the payments that were made by the Assemblies. According to his additional explanation, "some Assemblies are also refusing to hold audit meetings."
He continued by saying, "I have also been informed that certain MMDCEs and MMDCDs do not involve their Internal Auditors in the payment process, citing the use of the GIFMIS as an excuse." Due to the critical role that proper financial management and auditing play in ensuring the continued operation of the Assemblies, the Chief Local Government Inspector and the Internal Auditor will once more give presentations at this conference on topics concerning revenue and auditing concerns, respectively.
In spite of this, the 43 MMDAs that make up the area have all handed in their financial statements for the first quarter. There were some mistakes that needed to be fixed in three of them, therefore they were sent back.
The assemblies were successful in generating nearly 24 million cedis out of a total goal of 26.5 million cedis, which is equivalent to achieving 92.7 percent of the goal.
17 of the MMDAs had quarterly expenditures that were higher than their budget.
According to the results of the IGF mobilization competition, the Bosome Freho District was ranked dead last.
Mr. Mensah, who expressed satisfaction with the results, then went on to discuss the measures that were taken to boost revenue mobilization.
"One of the considerations is the monitoring. Now, every month, we review the financial statement, and then at the end of the month, I ask the Chief Local Government Inspector to give me a report on the financial statement. After reviewing the report, I then contact the assembly and ask them to help improve in any areas where they are falling short. ", he added.
During the same time period, the Assemblies incurred costs of more than 23,400,000 cedis.
At the General Meeting of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, attendees discussed different approaches that could be taken to foster community growth.
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