Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong speaks during the training session
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, has asked Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to comply with financial rules for proper accountability.
His statement was specifically directed at the various Municipal and District coordinating directors and all those involved in public finance management in the various Assemblies.
The Minister was speaking at a training session in Koforidua, organized by the Ministry of Finance, as part of a national stakeholders’ engagement to ensure prudent management of the public purse, for all 33 MDAs’ coordinating directors, budget and planning officers in the Eastern Region.
The trainees were schooled on the Public Financial Management Act and other regulations such as the Public Investment Management (PIM) Act of 2019 and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Act 2020.
Mr Kwame Acheampong noted that the various Acts provide the legal framework to guide the optimal use of public funds. He urged the directors and their finance management members not to lose sight of the laws when making decisions.
Judgement debts
The Principal Budget Analyst at the Ministry of Finance, Kojo Nkansah, said some officers sign multiple contracts committing their assemblies to about four years’ contract in clear breach of the law. This practice, he said, often results in unwarranted judgement debts against the various assemblies.
“The law says do not engage in multi-year commitments; anything short of that is a clear legal breach. Signing multi-year contracts and commitments were and still are some of the biggest challenges in the public financial sector,” he said.
He stressed the need for all stakeholders to be familiar with the laws and regulations to ensure they act within the remits of the legal framework.
