Revenue Mobilisation by District Assemblies and Its Uses: A Case Study of Techiman Municipal Assembly.

Abstract

The study is on the topic Revenue Mobilization and its uses in the Techiman Municipal Assembly (TMA) in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. This study was conducted to evaluate the uses of revenue mobilized by the Municipal Assembly under discussion. The objectives of the study were to identify the internal and external sources of revenue, the appropriate use of the mobilized revenue that can help TMA to meet its developmental needs. Areas considered under the challenges that TMA face included; over reliance on District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), apathy of revenue collectors, poor record keeping etc. A survey conducted using the simple random and purposive sampling methods to select twenty staff and management of Techiman Municipal Assembly, twenty revenue collectors and twenty residents in the assembly revealed that the infrastructural projects provided by Techiman Municipal Assembly are not adequate and do match neither revenues collected nor their demands for development. The conclusion drawn from the survey indicated that TMA is not sufficiently using fiscal decentralization to empower itself under Local Government Act, Act 462 (1993) for that matter it has not developed new performance in revenue mobilization. The Assembly like many local authorities in Ghana had tendered to over-rely on the DACF to meet its capital expenditure. Techiman Municipal Assembly lacks reliable database on residents that affect its budget formulation and implementation. A number of recommendations were made to Techiman Municipal Assembly and these recommendations suggested strategies be taken to improve the revenue base of Techiman Municipal Assembly.