Assembly Members have been tasked to help the citizenry understand the various government policies, programmes and social interventions, including procurement and expenditure.
As assembly members who were always in touch with the people, they have to understand and appreciate government policies, programmes and interventions to enable the communities support the government in implementing them.
Samuel Okoe Amanquah, the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Chief Executive, tasked the assembly members at a workshop organised by the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly at Atimpoku in the Eastern Region.
He noted that assembly members as representatives of various communities needed the knowledge on government policies, programmes and social interventions for their people to appreciate and help the assemblies perform their duties effectively and efficiently.
“Assembly members must also be familiar with the code of ethics, rules and regulations that govern assembly operations to bring socioeconomic development to the communities and improve livelihoods,” Mr Amanquah stressed.
Coleman Gyandor, Facilitator for Boundless Consulting Group, challenged them to study the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and to understand the financial operations of the Assembly.
“Assembly members need to understand GIFMIS, which was rolled out to cure financial lapses in the various government institutions, can review and certify payment applications for the supply of goods and services under the GIFMIS system if you understood the operations of the system.
“GIFMIS is an electronic platform used by the government to manage commitments made against appropriation and payment which enables the central government to deal with some lapses which normally occur during transaction processes, and to help improve government budgetary estimates, financial management and the reporting processes which you must be abreast with to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in your dealings,” Mr Gyandor pointed out.
Joseph Kwesi Gbeze, Presiding Member of the Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly, expressed gratitude to the assembly members for attending the workshop and appealed to them to ask relevant questions to aid them in the performance of their duties.
He observed that it was important the assembly members build good relationships with the electorates to enhance their capacity to create good rapport with the people they served, to enable them appreciate their challenges and problems in the performance of their duties. -GNA
