The Bia East District Assembly in the Western North Region has emerged as the best-performing Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA) in the 2025 Public Financial Management Compliance League Table (PFMCLT).
The Nkwanta South Municipal Assembly placed second, while the Asokwa Municipal Assembly ranked third. The Krachie Nchumuru and North Tongu district assemblies placed fourth and fifth respectively.
The South Dayi District Assembly came sixth, followed by the Asante Akim Central Municipal Assembly, Adansi South District Assembly, Jasikan Municipal Assembly and Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly to complete the top 10.
The assemblies were recognised at the launch of the third edition of the league table in Accra last Wednesday.
The assessment, organised by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) with support from the European Union, evaluates all 261 MMDAs on financial management, planning, service delivery, accountability, transparency and institutional performance to strengthen local governance and improve public service delivery.
The event brought together parliamentarians, government officials, representatives of the European Union, development partners, local government officials, professional bodies, civil society organisations, academia and the media.
Assessment findings
The 2025 assessment recorded the highest improvement since the league table was introduced in 2023.
The national average compliance score increased from 33 per cent in 2024 to 56.2 per cent in 2025, while the assessment expanded from 258 assemblies last year to all 261 MMDAs.
A total of 153 assemblies met or exceeded the 50 per cent compliance benchmark, compared with only 12 in 2024.
The report, however, identified external audit as the weakest area of compliance, with only 43 per cent of assemblies attaining the benchmark. It also highlighted persistent weaknesses in records management, implementation of audit recommendations, risk management and documentation, despite improvements in planning, budgeting, procurement and internal auditing.
Launch
Launching the report, the Chairperson of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Abena Osei-Asare, urged public institutions, particularly MMDAs to comply fully with public financial management laws and regulations to reduce financial irregularities and strengthen accountability.
She said Ghana's public financial management framework was adequate, but weak compliance continued to undermine efforts to safeguard public resources.
"It is not the case that the laws are not adequate; they are very adequate but compliance is weak," she said.
Mrs Osei-Asare, who is also the Member of Parliament for Atiwa East, commended the collaboration between the Auditor-General and the PAC, saying the recovery of disallowed expenditure demonstrated the value of effective parliamentary oversight in protecting the public purse.
The Deputy Executive Director of CLGA, Gladys Gillian Naadu Tetteh, urged every MMDA to prepare time-bound compliance improvement plans to address weaknesses identified in the assessment.
She stressed that the league table was intended to promote improvement rather than punish poor performers.
