For years, we have talked about making our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) truly autonomous.
The Constitution says they should be largely self-financing, with the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) meant for development.
In reality, most assemblies survive on the Common Fund, central government grants and donor support, while their own internally generated funds (IGF) remain pitiful.
That is why the claim made by the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs designate, Mahama Ayariga, during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee yesterday must be taken seriously. (See story on front page)
He would introduce a technology-driven system to help MMDAs identify, value and collect property rates, and that property rates alone could unlock an estimated GH¢20 billion annually.
GH¢20 billion.
That is a lot of money. For context, the entire DACF allocation for 2024 was less than GH¢6 billion.
If Mr Ayariga’s estimate is even half right, property rates could more than triple the resources available to local government and finally make decentralisation meaningful.
The question is: can he do it, and what will it take?
The untapped goldmine. Mr Ayariga is right about one thing: the revenue potential of assemblies is enormous and largely untapped.
Every MMDA in Ghana has the legal right to collect property rates, basic rates, market tolls, lorry park fees, business operating permits and a host of other levies.
Of these, property rates are the biggest and most stable source.
It is predictable, progressive and tied to visible development.
A district that builds more houses should collect more rates.
That is how local government works everywhere in the world.
But in Ghana, collection has been abysmal.
The reasons are well-known. We do not know where properties are.
The existing street naming and property addressing system only locates a property but does not tell us what it is, who owns it, how big it is, or what it is worth.
Valuation is outdated.
The Lands Commission and Land Valuation Division lack up-to-date data.
Many prime properties in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tamale are either not on any roll or are grossly undervalued.
Secondly, collection is manual, politicised and leaky.
Assemblies rely on collectors who go house-to-house with receipt booklets.
Revenue is under-declared, diverted, or simply not collected because collectors are afraid to demand payment from powerful landlords.
Transparency is weak, and citizens do not see what their rates do.
The result: a country with an estimated housing deficit of over 1.8 million units, with sprawling mansions in East Legon, Airport Hills, Trasacco, Cantonments in Accra and similar estates across the country, cannot collect more than a few hundred million cedis in property rates nationally.
What we need is a comprehensive national property cadastre — a digital database that links every property’s location, ownership from the Lands Commission, size, use (residential, commercial, mixed), construction type and value.
Drones, satellite imagery, geographic information systems (GIS) and artificial intelligence can now do in months what used to take years.
Ghana is ready for this.
The Ghana Card has given us a national ID system. Mobile money penetration means people can pay rates without cash.
The Ghana Post GPS and the new addressing system provide a base.
What is missing is integration.
Other African cities have done it.
In Kigali, Rwanda, property tax collection tripled after a digital mapping exercise.
In Lagos, Nigeria, automation pushed land use charge collection from millions to billions of naira.
GH¢20 billion may be optimistic, but even GH¢5 billion or GH¢8 billion will transform local governance.
The Daily Graphic cautions, however, that unlocking GH¢20 billion requires more than technology.
First, political will. Property rates are politically sensitive.
No MCE or DCE wants to be the one who bills powerful chiefs, politicians and businessmen.
The Minister must protect local revenue officers from political interference and make it clear that no one is exempt.
Ghanaians will not pay rates if what they see is waste, poor sanitation, broken streetlights and potholed roads.
Assemblies must link rate payment to visible services.
The Land Valuation Division must be resourced to carry out regular mass valuations.
The current law that allows ministerial approval for rate setting creates delays.
Assemblies must be empowered to set rates within a band, based on credible valuations.
They need a nationwide property rate revolution that is digital, transparent and accountable.
The Constitution envisaged self-financing assemblies.
Technology now makes it possible.
What is left is the courage to count every house, value it fairly, and collect what is due.
If we do, our assemblies will no longer go to Accra with bowls in hand.
They will build Ghana from the bottom up.
