Dr Oduro-Osae was speaking during a sensitization workshop on the new PFM Act, 2016 (ACT 921) in Accra. The new PFM Act, Act 921 is as a result of the follow up from Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Systems project and other reforms to address the significant weakness especially in the fiscal policy formulation, budgeting, commitment control, transparency and accountability, debt management among others.

The objective of the training intervention is to ensure fiscal discipline, effective and efficient use of public resource for the delivery of improved public service. He said the Act includes macro-fiscal policy formulation, budget formulation and presentation, internal and external audit, performance reporting, debt management and accounting reporting, local government borrowing and a sanction regime.

Dr Oduro-Osae said an officer that violent the new Act would be punished, since it has a sanction regime in the scope to deter others.  He said the Act definitely called for training so that key functionaries of MMDAs would be well vested in the new Act.

Dr Dadson Awunyo-Vitor, Director, Institute of Local Government Studies, said Local Governments were mandated to collect and mobilize resources, make allocations, carry out development works, deliver essential public services and monitor the use of funds to ensure best quality development activities and services at the local level.

He said, however, there had been some challenges for MMDAs in managing their finances, this led to the introduction of the new Act, which was passed by Parliament in August 2016 to make MMDAs financially disciplined.

He said the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and Cities Alliance in collaboration with the Institute has been implementing the Land, Services and Citizenship project.  The project aims to support national and local policy dialogue to promote sustainable urbanisation, ensure the empowerment of local governments, and reinforce the importance of active community participation.

Dr Awunyo-Vitor said the project also sought to strengthen the capacity of local government to inclusively plan and manage urban growth and manpower organisations of the urban poor to ensure financial discipline by MMDAs.