By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, July 28, GNA – Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of the Local Government Service (LGS), has charged staff of the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to be religiously professional in the discharge of their duties to safeguard the integrity of the Service.
In the same way, they must adapt to technological innovations, network and collaborate with people from diverse background for the right know-how in furtherance of their respective Assemblies.
“You have the onus of making Local Government units highly responsive to the needs of your constituents. This would require that, we work in unison with a key focus on achieving the vision of becoming a world-class decentralized and client-oriented Service.
“It is important, therefore, to appreciate the job or roles classification, particularly Budget or Finance Classes. I charge you to work closely with other classes or departments for enhanced service delivery,” Dr. Arthur admonished.
The Head of the Service gave the advice at the opening of a two-day Conference for 163 Budget Analysts and Officers drawn from the 22 Assemblies in the Central Regional on Thursday.
It was put together by the Budget Analysts Association of Ghana to among others, build the capacity of members for knowledge enhancement, networking and best practice dissemination.
The participants were taken through keynote presentations, panel discussions and networking sessions on programme-based budgeting, budget preparation and related challenges, financial data analysis, revenue mobilization strategies, report and minutes writing, and service delivery standards.
Touching on the essence of the conference, Dr. Arthur cited the adoption of Programme-based Budgeting (PBB) has been of immense importance since its introduction in 2016 to replace Activity-Based Budgeting (ABB).
It has also been of assistance with Key Performance Indicators to be more specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound and emphasized quality.
The PBB is a budgeting approach that focuses on organizing and presenting budget information according to specific programmes rather than traditional line-item categories.
This budgeting method has enabled government agencies and institutions to allocate resources based on the desired outcomes and objectives of various programmes or projects, rather than simply allocating funds to individual line items.
Mrs. Justina Marigold Assan, Central Regional Minister, said the central role of Budgets Analysts and Officers made them an indispensable ally in the national quest to move the local government system forward.
They cannot be left in oblivion in budget preparations, executions, and evaluations at the national and sub-national levels.
To fulfill these responsibilities efficiently, she said it required to be dedicated, disciplined, selfless and patriotic officers, who were motivated to achieve results no matter the challenges they are confronted with.
“In fact, the roles you play in your respective Assemblies are enormous.
“Your involvement in projecting for revenue inflows and outflows – creating budget lines for capital projects, goods, and services and compensations aimed at addressing some key developmental challenges we face in our respective Assemblies cannot be overemphasized,” Mrs. Assan noted.
GNA