‘Let’s share experiences among African local agencies’
The Municipal Chief Executive of the La Nkwantanang-Madina Assembly, Mr Franklin P. Anku, has advocated the sharing of knowledge and experiences among local government agencies in Africa.
Advertisement
“If indeed Africa wants to move forward, this is what we should be doing,” he said, adding that such interactions would afford those with weak systems the opportunity to learn the best practices from those with strong systems.
Mr Anku said this when a 12-member delegation from the Local Government Association of Zambia called on him to share their experiences and learn from Ghana.
Work of the assembly
The MCE took the delegation through the structure of the local government system at the assembly level, its membership, main functions, various committees within the assembly, the functionaries of the assembly, external environment of the assembly and financial mobilisation drive.
He told the delegation that the assembly, among other things, prepared its own development plan and corresponding budget, mobilised its own revenue for the provision of goods and services in the interest of the people, provided socio-economic infrastructure and ensured peace and security.
On funding, Mr Anku told the delegation that there were three main sources of revenue made up of the central government transfer known as the District Assemblies Common Fund, donor funding, also known as the District Development Fund, and the internally generated fund.
Challenges
He said the main challenge of the assembly was getting the people within the assembly to address the issue of waste to ensure a clean and healthy environment.
Mr Anku also said he was happy that even though the assembly was one of the youngest in the country, it was one of the few assemblies the delegation selected to visit, “and we are honoured to host them”.
He acknowledged the huge challenge the recent rating of the assembly as the second best in the country had and added, “We know this is a challenge for us to maintain and even exceed it.”
Answering questions, Mr Anku identified logistics constraints as a major challenge in its revenue mobilisation.
The delegation
A member of the Zambian delegation, Ms Mpatanti Namumba, said Ghana and Zambia had a lot of things in common, including similarities and challenges.
She said she had learnt a lot, especially in the area of revenue mobilisation, which was a major challenge for her country, and was hopeful that they would go back to their country, to share with their counterparts what they had learnt.
Ms Namumba was thankful to the assembly for the detailed briefing, which she said would be useful to them, especially in revenue mobilisation and capacity building.