By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, Aug. 8, GNA – The Nanton District Assembly has emerged top-performing district in the Northern Region in the 2024 Public Financial Management Compliance League Table (PFMCLT).
The District, which leaped from its fourth place ranking in 2023, scored 41.06 per cent to secure the first position.
The rankings were unveiled at a regional town hall meeting in Tamale, and attended by various stakeholders, including civil society organizations, government agencies traditional and religious authorities, persons living with disabilities among others.
The PFMCLT initiative, funded by the European Union, was organised by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA) to disseminate the findings and promote citizen participation in public financial accountability.
The PFMCLT is a comprehensive monitoring tool designed to assess how effectively District Assemblies comply with Ghana’s Public Financial Management (PFM) laws and regulations across the entire cycle; planning, budgeting, procurement, accounting and reporting, and internal and external auditing.
Madam Gladys Gillian Naadu Tetteh, Deputy Executive Director of CLGA, whose speech was read on her behalf during the meeting, said it played a vital role in promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement in local governance.
She said, “This is why we have invited you all here today, to share the tool and 2024 rankings with you, and to actively involve you in the process. When Assemblies manage public funds effectively, we all benefit through better roads, clean water, quality education, functional health centres, and other essential services.”
She said the PFMCLT did not only highlight best-performing Assemblies but also exposed areas needing urgent improvement, especially to ensure that the most vulnerable groups were not left behind due to mismanagement of public resources.
Mr Herbert Apaloo, Programmes Manager at CLGA, who presented the findings of the assessment, said Sagnarigu Municipality retained its second place position in the region with a score of 36.03% while Nanumba South District Assembly dropped to the bottom, ranking lowest with 15.50% down from 12th place in the 2023 assessment.
At the national level, La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly was the best performing district in the country improving from second position in 2023 to first with a score of 57.50%.
Akatsi South Municipal Assembly, Bawku Municipal Assembly, and Nkwanta South Municipal Assembly were the worst performing districts nationally with each scoring zero per cent.
Mr Apaloo explained that the tool empowered citizens to demand accountability from their local authorities and track the utilization of public funds for development purposes.
Mr Mohammed Mutaru Alhassan, Advocacy and Policy Influencing Officer at School for Life lauded the initiative describing it as a game-changer in holding local authorities accountable.
He said, “This ranking gives us the evidence we need to ask the right questions. It will also motivate Assemblies to improve because they now know citizens are watching. I hope the tool will be sustained and integrated into mainstream performance assessments.”
He underscored need for CLGA, to in subsequent assessments, include sanctions and recommendations for the various MMDAs in their findings to enforce effective performance and compliance.
GNA
Edited by Eric K. Amoh/Christian Akorlie