The over reliance on common fund and other donor sources of funds to MMDA’s is receiving a major complimentary boost by an NGO Peoples Action to Win Life All-round (PAWLA). It is the sole NGO in assisting assemblies raise revenue locally within their jurisdictions and it is chalking unprecedented successes.
The NGO which has its headquarters in Tumu in the Upper West region has expanded its tenterhooks to the Brong Ahafo, Northern and Volta region as well. According the Founder and CEO of PAWLA Mr. Alisidongor Baluri B. Emmanuel, the success story of his outfit abounds in all the districts it has under taken this project. He went further to state that districts wouldn’t have to overly rely on common fund if their capacity is built to raising more internal revenue.
Statistics revealed by the NGO indicates that, in the year 2010, with sponsorship from Partnership for Transparency Fund (PFP) they undertook the project in the Sissala East district of the Upper West region. This led to an increase in local revenue mobilization by ten percent (10%). With this base evidence, the NGO received funding from Starr Ghana hence they incorporated Sissala West district. In the first quarter an improvement of five percent was realized in August it increased to 16.6% and subsequently increased to 33%.
The CEO opined that, the challenges being faced by the MMDA’s isn’t as a result of natural resource constrains but that of bad leadership stemming from the lack of transparency. ‘If we decide to work we need to raise our own revenue. Accra decentralizes structures but not resources’ he added.
He called on the assemblies in Ghana to be more transparent and accountable to the people in their locality. This he said according to their research is pivotal in getting the local people pay the require levies to the assemblies. He thanked the various assemblies that have opened up to them in building their capacities to raise revenue. The NGO looks forward to getting more sponsorship in order to expand its operations to many more districts.
Joseph Oswald Ali
Wa