Improving Revenue Mobilisation At MMDAs Government’s Priority - Minister

Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said improved local revenue generation at the Metropolitan' Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) is one of the major priorities of Government.

She said the Administration and Management of Internally Generated Funds (IGF) was a shared responsibility between the Ministries of Finance and Local Government and Rural Development, due to their roles of fiscal policy and local Governance respectively.

“Over the years, various interventions have been undertaken to improve revenue mobilisation at the MMDAs level, that notwithstanding, there are still many challenges that urgently need to be addressed,” Hajia Mahama said.

Hajia Mahama said this in a speech read on her behalf at a workshop organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the International Growth Centre (IGC) on the theme: “Improving Local Government Revenue Mobilisation.”

The one-day workshop, which brought together Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and other stakeholders in decentralisation and local governance, served as a platform to disseminate and discuss findings from a recently completed survey on revenue mobilisation capacity across 216 MMDAs and to consider the possible measures for improving Internal Generated Funds (IGF).

She said Chapter 20 of the 1992 Constitution (Article 245) states that Parliament, shall by law, prescribe the functions of the District Assemblies which shall include; levying and collection of taxes, rates, duties and fees.

Schedule eight and 11 of the Local Governance Act, Act 936 of 2016, expanded on this and empowered Assemblies to collect revenue from a range of sources to complement Central Government transfers and funding from Development Partners.