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Bolga Municipal Assembly’s IGF of Ghc 4.2m in 4 years woefully inadequate – Rex Asanga

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The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly over the last 4 years has raised a total of Ghc4,229,617.14 in Internally Generated Fund (IGF). The total revenues were raised under 7 categories.

The categories include; income on property, lands and royalties, rent income and licences. The rest are; fees, fines and penalties, miscellaneous and unident revenue.

In 2018, the assembly raised Ghc923,860.75. In 2019, the revenue collected increased to Ghc1,118,110.30. There was a dip in revenues collected in 2020 as the Assembly managed to collect only Ghc929,693.34. The dip was attributed to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021 as restrictions eased and businesses slowly reopened, the Assembly managed to raise a total IGF of Ghc 1,257,952.75.

Out of the total amount raised, the Assembly spent Ghc 4,088,396.61 on compensation, goods and services as well as assets.

This came to light when the Bolgatanga Municipal Budget Officer, Dauda Issahaku Saari, the Municipal Finance Officer, Alhaji Sheriff Adams and the MCE, Rex Asanga spoke on A1 Radio’s DayBreak Upper East Show about the Assembly’s improved strategies to generate revenues internally.

The discussion followed the airing of a news report by William Nlanjerbor Jalulah which  focused on how Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly are accounted for.

The journalist deployed the Right to Information Law in Ghana to secure information from the assembly for the report. The report formed part of activities approved under the Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) project on Promoting Press Freedom, Independent Journalism and Democratic Governance in West Africa being implemented with funding support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Touching on the revenue realized over the last few years, the MCE, Mr Asanga explained that it was woefully inadequate.

It would be recalled that in a previous conversation on the same platform, Mr Asanga argued that there was no reason the Bolga Municipal Assembly should be realising less than Ghc 2 million per annum.

The MCE argued that the Ghc2 million was a rather conservative figure.

He said, “I have always held the view that the Bolga Municipal Assembly has a huge potential to raise revenues. When I said Gh2 million, I was rather conservative. It is just that it is difficult to rope in all the businesses and people who are supposed to be paying something to the Assembly for development purposes.

Honestly, we need the money to develop. When you walk around the municipality, you see the huge challenges that we face as a municipality. This is also the regional capital, unfortunately, we do not get any extra funds for being regional capital.”

While arguing that regional capital should have some extra government support to be able to deal with the huge problem urbanisation in those areas comes with, the MCE also explained that as an assembly, they are committed to devising new ways of raising revenue internally to meet the growing demands of residents.

“I still stand by what I said by saying that we need to rope in everyone that needs to pay. We all walk on the roads; when the roads are not good, we want them to be fixed. We all go to the market. When it is not nice, somebody is complaining. We as a people have to come to an understanding that paying tax or something small for the development of the country is not a punishment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dauda Issaku Saari, the Bolgatanga Municipal Budget Officer is severely displeased with the attitude of commercial tricycle users otherwise known as ‘Cando’ operators within the Municipality. Mr. Saari explained that despite several attempts by the assembly to levy or tax the operations of these operators, they [the operators] continually find ways of avoiding mandatory payments.

Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|William Nlanjerbor Jalulah|Ghana

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