KMA ENGAGES STAKEHOLDERS IN 2024 FISCAL YEAR FEE FIXING RESOLUTION
Pursuant to section 40 and 41 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 Act 936, Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should invite residents and other stakeholders in the district to participate effectively in the activities of the Assembly and make representations and suggestions on the draft or proposed Fee Fixing Resolution for the coming year.
To this end, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly on Wednesday 13thSeptember, 2023 organized a Fee Fixing Consultation Meeting at the Clogsag Hall in Kumasi to engage stakeholders for their input for the proposal of the 2024Fee-Fixing Resolution.
Stakeholders who attended the consultation meeting included Transport Unions, Printing Houses, Pharmacists, Civil Society Organizations, GUTA, Credit Unions, artisans, financial institutions among others. In attendance were also the Mayor Hon. Sam Pyne, Mr. Francis Dwira Darko, MCD; Hon. Patrick Frimpong, PM; F&A and Revenue Sub-Committee Conveners, and some heads of department at KMA.
In his opening remarks, the Mayor, Hon. Sam Pyne said the purpose of the engagement was to give the stakeholders the platform to partake in the fee fixing resolution for the coming year.
He mentioned that it was the Assembly’s policy to involve the people in its decisions concerning tolls, rates, levies, fees, transport reorganization, environmental and sanitation issues among others.
Hon. Sam Pyne noted that the KMA recently commissioned a 3-Unit Classroom Block for the Abrepo M/A School, while the construction of a 6-Unit Ground floor Classroom Block is ongoing at Adumanu and African Faith School at Santasi-Kegyase respectively.
He explained that these and other amenities such as bridges, boreholes, streetlights among others that the communities demand from the Assembly were funded from a portion of the Assembly’s Internally Generated Fund (IGF).
The Mayor subsequently entreated the stakeholders to always fulfil their tax obligations and pay their levies and tolls on time for the development of their communities.
Mr. Francis Dwira Darko, the Metro Coordinating Director in his remark said the KMA had the interest of the traders and businesses within the metropolis at heart and that it was the Assembly’s duty to create an enabling environment for businesses within the metropolis to flourish and would not take any decision alone that would bring hardship to the people.
The stakeholders were taken through how the fees and rates were determined, the categories and its corresponding fees and the smart platforms that the KMA has introduced in its revenue collection.
Mr. Randy Wilson, Head of Urban Transport Department of KMA used the platform to sensitize the stakeholders on the transport reorganization exercise the KMA was embarking on regarding restriction of tricycle operations in the CBD, illegal stations and loading points, on-street parking, and offloading of Cargo vehicles in the CBD.
Joshua Tettey Nortey, Local Coordinator for the Holistic Reinforcement for Sustainable Development Project (HORESD), a project on waste segregation and recycling, also used the opportunity to explain the concept to the stakeholders and called on them to come on board when it finally commences.
The presentation of the 2024 fee fixing resolution was done by Mr. Eric Nunoo, a Budget Analyst at KMA.
During the open forum, some of the stakeholders raised issues of concern which were addressed by the Mayor, Presiding Member, MCD, Sub-Committee Conveners, and other technocrats at the Assembly respectively.