The management of the Wa Municipal Assembly has been cautioned to strictly adhere to budget guidelines in its operations to avoid sanctions.
The warning came from the Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr James Klutse Avedzi, at a sitting in Tamale yesterday and monitored by the Ghanaian Times.
Mr Avedzi stressed the critical importance of following the Auditor General’s recommendations, regardless of the circumstances faced by the Assembly.
The Assembly was found to have failed in committing the required 20 per cent of its Internally Generated Fund (IGF) to capital expenditure.
Specifically, the IGF report showed a significant shortfall, revealing that only GH¢53,350.00 out of the mandated GH¢341,190.00 had been allocated to capital projects.
In response to these findings, the Municipal Finance Officer, Mr Cletus Moari Bawumya, explained that the failure to meet the capital expenditure target was due to pressing security concerns in the area.
According to him the Assembly had been forced to divert funds to address serious security challenges, which had led to the unfortunate deaths of private security personnel employed by the Assembly.
The security situation, which initially began last year and had subsided for a period he said, had recently resurfaced, prompting the Assembly to prioritise the protection of lives and property.
This, Mr Bawumya stated, had compelled the Assembly to develop strategies to mitigate the security threats, which necessitated reallocating resources originally intended for capital expenditure.
Despite these justifications, Mr Avedzi urged the Assembly’s management to remain within the confines of their budget and refrain from redirecting funds meant for development projects.
He stressed that security matters should be handled by the Ministry of National Security, rather than local assemblies, which operate with limited financial resources.
Mr Avedzi further expressed concern over the practice of diverting funds, describing it as detrimental to the development objectives of the Assembly.
He lamented over the fact that the already “meagre” resources at the disposal of the Assemblies were being used to tackle security issues, thereby undermining the Assembly’s ability to invest in essential capital projects.
He reiterated that there had to be stricter adherence to budget guidelines by district and municipal assemblies and more effective resource allocation to meet both developmental and security needs without compromising one for the other.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU