The Yendi Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the Northern Development Society had organized Town Hall Meeting for over 100 opinion leaders in Yendi.

They include traders, people with disability, Imams, traditional authorities, staff of decentralized departments, dress makers, assembly members and unit committees members.

Speaking at the meeting, the Coordinator of Social Public Expenditure And Financial Accountability Mr Mahama Kabiru said that the purpose of the town hall meeting was to enable the Municipal Assembly to disseminate budget information to the citizens.

Mr Kabiru said the meeting was intended to help the ordinary citizens and the community as a whole to understand and participate in the management of the Assembly finances and in the process improve transparency and accountability of the public budgeting process.

He indicated that as more resources were being decentralized, it became imperative for central government and citizens to hold local government accountable to the citizens.

Mr Kabiru commended the Yendi Municipal Assembly for providing pictures of various development projects and other facilities during their budget presentation for the illiterates to view and understand.

He said the town hall meetings have so far been held by the Tamale Metropolitan and Yendi Municipal assemblies.

The Yendi Municipal Planning Officer Alhaji Mohammed Shaibu, who presented the Assembly’s budget called on the people to watch out for the Yendi Municipal Assembly revenue collectors who are using fake revenue receipt books for their own personnel benefit.

Touching on the Assembly’s 2013 Budget, Alhaji Shaibu said as at June 2013 the Assembly collected GHC 92,356.00  as its Internal Generated Fund as compared to last year when the assembly collected GHC 613,690.00 for 2012.  He said the assembly is projecting to collect GHC 611,320.00 as its IGF for next year. He said this year the Central Government allocated GHC 109,520.59 to the assembly compared to last year’s when it was allocated with GHC 1,907,425.40.

He said with donor funding from DDF, the Assembly was allocated GHC 2, 912, 44.00 as compared to 2012 when it was allocated GHC 4,230,317.24.

According to the Municipal Planning Officer an amount of GHC 60,014.65 had been spent on construction of library and classroom blocks for the Yendi Health Assistance Training School (HATS) six unit classroom block at the cost of GHC 80,000 for Malzeri, GHC 167,127.00, as funds for the school feeding programme and rehabilitation of a school, an amount of GHC 19,494.12 had also been allocated for the support of HIV/Malaria, among others.

He said an amount of GHC 1,180,000.00 had also been allocated for construction of roads in some suburbs of Yendi, and an amount of GHC 50,126.00 had been allocated for construction of a foot bridge under the Urban Development Grant.

In addition, he indicated that an amount of GHC 1, 002, 82.00 had been solicited from District Development Facility (DDF), Government of Ghana for schools, water, hospitals and capacity building.

GNA