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The latest ranking of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) has revealed a disturbing trend where the assemblies flout the provisions of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), leading to poor management of public resources.
All the 261 MMDAs failed to meet the 50 per cent benchmark for accounting and reporting, while only four of them met the 50 per cent threshold for good internal and external auditing as provided for in Act 921.
Again, the Public Financial Management Compliance League Table (PFMCLT), which was released last Wednesday, revealed that only 81 (31 per cent) of the MMDAs scored 50 per cent in terms of procurement and contracting.
In terms of composite budgeting, only 128 of the MMDAs met the 50 per cent threshold, while 210 of them made the pass mark for development planning. The report was produced by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) using 258 out of the 261 MMDAs across the 16 regions.
Overall, the national average score by the MMDAs for 2024 was 33 per cent, an improvement from 22 per cent in the previous year. However, the results fell short of the 50 per cent benchmark for optimum performance.
The report revealed that only 12 MMDAs – consisting of 10 municipal assemblies and two district assemblies- met or exceeded the 50 per cent benchmark.
Interestingly, the report revealed that none of the six metropolitan assemblies in the country reached the 50 per cent benchmark, although three of them performed above the national average of 33 per cent.
Against this backdrop, a local governance expert and former Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr Oduro Osae, has advocated the cracking of the whip onMetropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) who failed to efficiently manage public resources in the interest of local communities.
He observed that the poor performance of most of the MMDAs in the PFMCLT was largely a leadership challenge, with the buck stopping at the doorstep of the chief executive.
"The time has come to crack the whip on MMDCEs who supervise poor management of public resources.
The MMDCEs receive District Assembly Common Fund and draw district development plans, and they are supposed to drive the development wheels of the local communities instead of blaming the President; if they fail to do this, they cannot continue to be in office," he stressed.
Dr Osae said it was worrying that although Ghana’s governance system had been largely revered across the world, the situation was not the same at the local level.
He said the transfer system of skilled personnel and technocrats at the MMDAs, which was sometimes motivated by partisanship, needed to be stopped to give the assemblies institutional memory.
The La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly (LADMA) in the Greater Accra Region emerged as the best-performing assembly in terms of the efficient management of public resources as provided for by the PFMA, 2016 (Act 921).
After placing second in the 2023 edition, LADMA moved a step further to sit atop the league of 261 MMDAs, which were assessed on five thematic areas — planning, budgeting, procurement and contracting, accounting and reporting, as well as internal and external auditing.
The PFMCLT, which ranked the MMDAs per their level of compliance with Act 921, highlighted how they have efficiently managed public resource allocations from the central government and how it has directly manifested in development at the local level.
The Kwadaso Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region, Kpando Municipal Assembly in the Volta Region, Sunyani Municipal Assembly in the Bono Region, and Asante Akim South Municipal Assembly in the Eastern Region, followed in pecking order to complete the list of top five performing MMDAs.
The Nkwanta-South Municipal Assembly in the Oti Region, the Bawku Municipal Assembly in the Upper West Region, and the Akatsi South Municipal Assembly in the Volta Region were not assessed because of security reasons in those areas.
In the Ashanti Region, the Kwadaso Municipal Assembly came top while the Atwima Mponua District Assembly was the lowest ranked.
For the Ahafo Region, the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly was the highest ranked compared with the Asunafo South District Assembly, which was ranked at the bottom.
The Dormaa West Municipal Assembly came first in the Bono Region, with the Berekum West District Assembly being the lowest ranked.
The Bono East Region also produced Pru West District as the highest-ranked assembly, while Techiman Municipal Assembly came last.
The Agona West Municipal Assembly in the Central Region topped the league table, with the Agona East District Assembly emerging as the lowest ranked.
In the Eastern Region, the Denkyembour District Assembly sat at the apex of the league table while the Fanteakwa North District Assembly was glued to the bottom.
The Greater Accra Region also saw LADMA top the 29 MMDAs, as against the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, which came last in the rankings.
For the Northern Region, the Nanton District Assembly was the highest ranked, while the Nanumba South District Assembly was placed at the bottom of the table.
Yunyoo-Nasuan District Assembly sat atop the North-East league table as opposed to Mamprugu Moagduri District Assembly at the bottom.
In the Oti Region, Krachi East Municipal Assembly emerged first on the table, and Nkwanta-South was the least ranked.
North East Gonja District led the table in the Savannah Region, with the Bole District Assembly being the lowest ranked.
The Upper West Region had the Wa Municipal Assembly sit at the top of the table, while the Jirapa Municipal Assembly was placed last.
Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly was first in the Upper East Region, where Bawku Municipal Assembly was placed at the bottom (not ranked).
For the Volta Region, Kpando Municipal Assembly was first on the league table while Akatsi South Municipal Assembly was bottom placed.
The Effia Kwesimintsim District Assembly took the top spot on the table against the Shama District Assembly, which was the lowest ranked.
For the Western-North, the Sefwi Wiawso Municipal Assembly was first on the table, while the Sefwi Akontombra District Assembly came last.
