KMA TAKES STEPS TO IMPROVE REVENUE MOBILIZATION

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has initiated moves to improve the Assembly’s revenue mobilization processes.

As a first step, its revenue unit is to be upgraded into a department pending approval by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Additionally, the Assembly has assigned a Chief Accountant as head of the Section assisted by five Chartered Accountants to take full charge of the Assembly’s revenues. This development is to ensure daily monitoring and reporting on revenue returns with the use of IT application to ensure efficiency.

 The Mayor of Kumasi, Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi stated these in his sessional address delivered at the First Ordinary Meeting of the Third Session of the Seventh Assembly in Kumasi on Tuesday, 27th March 2018. 

The Local Governance  Act, 2016 (Act  936) section 28 (2) (a)  requires that the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the KMA reports on the performance of the executive Committee and his own functions, the state of affairs and the implementation of Central Government  policies and programmes in the metropolis to the House at the beginning of each Session.

Hon. Assibey Antwi said as part of the measures to increase revenue, the Assembly’s enhancement team was vigorously undertaking a data collection of all businesses in the metropolis to assist the Assembly in its planning and forecasting for the respective revenue streams and to provide a more reliable source of input for KMA budget preparation.

Hon. Assibey Antwi mentioned issuance of building permits, outdoor advertising, the Kumasi Central Market, Sokoban Wood Village as some sources of revenue generation for the Assembly but said the issue of leakage posed a major challenge to the KMA in its revenue mobilization efforts.

According to him, there was a lot of fake General Counterfoil Receipts (GCRs) in the system being used to collect monies which never got to KMA. He said the issue had been reported to the relevant investigative bodies and KMA staff found culpable would be brought to justice.

Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi touched on many other important issues in his sessional address in the areas of Sanitation and Waste Management, Roads and Transport management, investment, project implementation, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), Sister-City Relations, Trade and Industry among others.