A day’s workshop to enlighten the media on revenue mobilisation and how planning and budgeting are done at the assemblies has ended at Shama in the Western Region.
It was organised by Friends of the Nation in partnership with the Shama District Assembly and funded by Oxfam, an international non-governmental organisation.
Addressing the participants, the District Planning Officer for the Shama District, Alhaji Abu Mahama implored the media to educate the citizenry on revenue mobilisation for the development of the nation.
The mobilisation of enough revenue, especially Internally Generated Funds he said, would facilitate more development in the districts, making them less dependent on funds from the central government.
According to him, the media was the main organ that set every day’s agenda and today’s democratic process was one such classic example of the critical role of the media.
He said it was very necessary to give accurate and reliable information on how planning and budgeting was prepared at the assembly level, so that together as partners in development the nation could be move forward.
Alhaji Mahama said every district or organisation was supposed to plan before making a budget to run the district, adding planning starts from the community level before reaching the districts by the compilation of amenities the communities would need.
He mentioned potable water, modern community centre, roads, toilets, educational and health facilities as some of the projects communities would request the assembly to provide for them.
The District Budget Officer Mr Emmanuel Nana Yartel, said if unrealistic budgets were presented to the districts, this could cause problems because all budgets were in a cycle.
He said the District Assembly Common came with its own projects and could not be diverted to a different project.
The District Coordinating Director, Mr Richard Blevi, said ‘being in bed’ with the media was a welcome idea by the assembly, stressing that reliable, graphic and accurate information released to the media would keep the district out of trouble.
FROM PETER GBAMBILA, SHAMA
