From Sebastian R. Freiku
The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) expects to raise about GH¢91,796,829.00 from inflows and projected expenditure for 2014. The amount is expected to be generated from sources, including the Internally Generated Fund (IGF), District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DAFC), District Development Facility (DDF), Social Investment Fund (SIF) under the Government of Ghana funding and donors.
About GH¢42,390,897.00 is expected to flow from donors, while the Assembly will have to provide GH¢18,386,329.00 from its Internally Generated Funds, while the central government would provide
GH¢19,133,912.00.
These were announced by the Mayor of Kumasi, Kojo Bonsu, in his sessional address, in line with the Local Government Act 462 of 1993, at the first ordinary meeting of the Assembly last week Tuesday in
Kumasi.
The rest of the estimated expenditure is expected to be raised from the DDF of GH¢7,574,892.00 and DACF, under which GH¢4,310,798.00 is earmarked.
Outlining the Assembly’s performance in revenue mobilisation, the Mayor said the KMA raised GH¢13,431,250.50, representing 89.5% of the GH¢15,000,886.74 budgeted for in 2013.
Mr. Bonsu said with the sound financial standing, the Assembly had not relinquished its core duty of providing physical infrastructure under the various funding.
He disclosed that under the DDF, which is performance based, the Assembly implemented a total of 16 projects in areas such as education, health, sanitation, and security, with education sector topping the list with 10 projects, nine of which have been duly completed.
The Mayor also announced that under the Urban Development Grant 1 (UDG), which stemmed from the DDF, the KMA, as a torchbearer, received US$4.2 million, and used it to implement 25 projects across the metropolis.
The distribution of the projects spanned education 13, health six, roads two, sanitation three, and one water project, which comprised 32 boreholes for various communities.
Under the UDG II, the KMA received GH¢3,351,351,351.60 for 24 projects yet to be awarded on contract.
Mr. Bonsu disclosed further that the KMA expects to received GH¢5,010,373.03 from the UDG III, of which the Assembly had resolved to use for the implementation of the projects, including the expansion of the Kumasi Airport, the provision of CCTV under the Safe City Project, construction of two bus terminals (North and South), and procurement of 100 Skip Communal waste containers.
The Mayor announced that as a follow up to the night cleaning and street sweeping project, the KMA had introduced the Rapid Response Unit as an expansion to respond to indiscriminate dumping and littering of waste citywide.
He said the KMA was studying a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the Bunengi Group of South Africa on the implementation of a mass urban transport infrastructure project, to be known as the “Kumasi Sky Train Project”, which seeks to establish a safe, efficient, cost effective, and financially viable mass transportation system, capable of supporting the transit of citizens and visitors in the metropolis.
Meanwhile, Kojo Bonsu has proposed the need for the construction of a befitting City Hall Complex for the Assembly, as an important institution to champion the aspirations of the residents.
According to him, a site opposite the existing KMA premises had been negotiated for, and that a project brief on a “design and build” basis had been prepared to guide interested companies for their proposals.
Pix: Kojo Bonsu – Mayor of Kumasi