On Tuesday, 6th May 2025, the Obuasi East Municipal Assembly welcomed a delegation from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as part of an ongoing national exercise to verify the effectiveness of donor-funded interventions across selected Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies(MMDAs).
For many years, MMDAs in Ghana have received financial and technical support from development partners, particularly from the governments of Germany and Switzerland. These interventions, aimed at enhancing local governance and service delivery, are evaluated periodically using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). However, recent trends on the national performance scoreboard have shown that some districts, including Obuasi East, are consistently scoring highly—raising concerns that the current KPIs might not be painting an entirely accurate picture on the ground.
To validate the integrity of the performance data and ensure that progress reflected in the scores is truly reflective of grassroots development, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Government have jointly commissioned field visits to 60 selected MMDAs. Obuasi East Municipal Assembly was the 21st district to be visited.
The visiting team comprised Mr. George K. Ansah, Advisor to GIZ, and Mr. Prince N.A Awere, the Western North Regional Budget Analyst who in this exercise represented the Ministry of Finance. Their mandate was to assess the functionality and effectiveness of the Budget Committee and the District Development Coordinating Unit (DDCU) in executing their core mandates focusing more on the budgeting process.
During the engagement, the Municipal Coordinating Director, Mr. Eric Aboagye Mensah, along with key Heads of Department, welcomed the delegation and openly discussed key challenges affecting the Assembly’s performance, particularly in the areas of budgeting and DPCU. Notably, issues around resource allocation, interdepartmental collaboration, and dissemination of financial information were candidly shared.
Following the deliberations and on-site assessment, the visiting team provided a set of actionable recommendations including:
1.Enhancing Budget Committee Effectiveness: Strengthen the committee through collective
strategies to improve internally generated funds (IGF) for sustained operations.
2.Improving Transparency in Fund Allocation: Ensure clear communication of fund allotments to all
departments to foster planning and accountability.
3.Promoting Professional Communication: Encourage Heads of Department to share accurate and
consistent information to avoid misinformation that could mislead stakeholders or the public.
4.Inclusive Budgeting Process: Urge all departments to actively participate in the budgeting
cycle to enhance collective ownership and implementation success
In addition, the team took note of some pressing concerns raised by the Assembly and assured leadership that these would be proposed to for further review and consideration in policy decisions. The meeting concluded with the presentation of relevant documents by core officers for verification and record validation. The visiting team expressed their appreciation for the openness and hospitality shown by the Obuasi East Municipal Assembly and emphasized the importance of these field visits in aligning performance data with real developmental impact. This exercise marks a significant step toward ensuring that developmental support continues to be data-driven, transparent, and genuinely reflective of community-level progress.