Northern Regional Budget Officer, Mr Frimpong Owusu Peter has advised Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the region to frequently change their revenue collectors if they really want to meet their revenue targets.
He said the only way to block revenue leakages which have been the reasons for most assemblies not meeting their targets is to transfer officers.
The regional budget officer said even though it is difficult to block leakage in revenue collection, the assemblies have to come out with innovative measures to prevent it.
Mr. Peter was speaking to Zaa News after he launched NORSAAC’s training program for MMDAs staff on domestic revenue mobilization and budget advocacy.
The training is under the auspices of OXFAM Economic and Social Justice Project. Staff from Sagnarigu municipal and Zabzugu District assemblies will benefit from the training.
The budget officer underscored the importance of Internal Generated Funds (IGF) for the assemblies and urged them to pay attention to the collectors if they want citizens to pay their tax.
The Municipal Coordinating Director of Sagnarigu Alhassan Mahamadu Kamara assured NORSAAC of their readiness to improve upon their revenue mobilization.
Mr Karama said the municipality has all revenue sources including hotels and schools and what it needs to do is to get revenue officers trained properly on collection and judicious use of the revenue.
He admitted that citizens are reluctant to pay taxes because they feel the revenue is not being use to their benefit.
The major challenge confronting the municipality Mr Kamara said is open market which the authorities are working hard to address.
Sagnarigu municipality and Zabzugu district have huge potential in generating enough revenue.
Hajia Hafsah Sey Sumani, NORSAAC’s Head of Programs and Policy, told Zaa News the training became necessary after a research conducted by Center for Budget Analysis which revealed that Zabzugu and Sagnarigu has huge potential in generating enough revenue.
The hope of NORSAAC Citizens Domestic Revenue Mobilization (C4DRM) Project and donors Hajia Hafsah said was that the Assemblies should be able to have at least 8% of their budget financed by domestic revenue mobilization and Internal Generated Funds(IGF).
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