By Paul Eduarko Richardson
Accra, Jan. 17, GNA – The Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly has targeted GHC9,650,522.00 to be collected as its Internally Generated Funds (IGF) for 2024.
The amount would be spent on activities and projects, including the construction of a two-story three-unit classroom block and ICT Library at Tesano, as well as provision of hanging scales, toddler scales and stadiometers for the Achimota Hospital.
Others are sanitation, desilting of drains and kerbs, decongestion exercises, Revenue Taskforce operations, and procurement of furniture and fittings and other office equipment.
The Assembly’s 2023 Internally Generated Fund (IGF) target was GHC7,764,322.00.
As of October 31, 2023, GHC5,533,359.87 had been realised, largely coming from property rates, building permits, business operating permits, fees, rents and fines.
Some of the activities that took up a chunk of the IGF for 2023 were sanitation, desilting of drains and culvert, purchase of new pick-up vehicle for revenue monitoring, decongestion exercises, and administrative works.
To meet its IGF target for 2024, the Assembly said it would intensify public sensitisation on the need for people to acquire building permits and pay their property rates and market tolls.
The Assembly would also collect data on new development of properties, intensify monitoring of physical development, embark on random visits to monitor the performance of revenue collectors, and organise revenue mop-up taskforce operations.
Mr Nii Boye Laryea, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), told the Ghana News Agency that, the Municipality had also been divided into eight zones to ensure effective revenue collection.
“We have groups in charge of each zone. They will concentrate on their zones to make sure that we get whatever is due for the Assembly in terms of internally generated funds,” the MCE noted.
He added that the Assembly was working to cut down its expenditure to meet the people’s needs.
Mr Laryea said the Assembly would also intensify its community engagements to garner the support of the people and ensure successful implementation of the Assembly’s activities and projects.
“We look forward to total cooperation and collaboration between the Assembly and the people. Let everyone do their part so that the Assembly can also do its part—and together, we can solve most of the problems the Municipality faces.
“We are hoping that 2024 will bring some relief to our people and the Assembly,” he said.
GNA