Tamale Metro Assembly accused of inaction on illegal revenue collectors
Some Assembly Members of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) have accused the Assembly of allowing revenue mobilization collectors to illegally pocket revenues collected on behalf of the Assembly.
They alleged that some of those illegal operators hide under the cover of the Assembly and collect taxes from motorist and the general public without the official notice of the Assembly.
Mr Chimsey Mohammed, an Assemblyman for the Yong-Dakpemyili Electoral Area, said the Assembly had been weak in tracking down such illegal operations and called on the Assembly to be proactive in their revenue collections.
Mr Mohammed raised this concern in Tamale on Tuesday during the second ordinary sitting of the TMA which was attended by some of the Assembly Members.
Mr Prince Abubakari Adam Mohammed, the Presiding Member (PM) of the TMA also expressed worry about the low internally generated funds of the Assembly noting that it had made it impossible for some projects to progress expectedly thus forestalling some of them.
He blamed the low revenue generation of the Assembly on poor supervision of revenue collectors, diversion of revenue monies into individuals, ineffective monitoring by the Assembly and many other factors and urged the TMA to fix the situation to prevent it from getting worse.
The PM advised the Assembly to educate traders and other tax payers on the need to pay taxes since it was the most reliable means of executing development projects.
Alhaji Abudulai Harruna Friday, the Tamale Metro Chief Executive in response to the concerns of the assembly members, assured them that the errors would be corrected to ensure effective revenue mobilization.
He said out of the revenue target of GH¢1,266,509.40, for 2012, an amount of GH¢688,311.27 representing 55% was realized as at August 31st while the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) also gave GH¢50,000.00 and GH¢115,570.80 in first and second quarters share respectively.
Alhaji Friday told the house that the Sagnarigu District Assembly had been carved out of the TMA in June reducing the electoral areas to 41 and ceding 11 Government Appointees to the new district
He called for a renewed effort at tackling the developmental needs of the electorates.
He said the Assembly had undertaken 25 developmental projects in the areas of education, water and sanitation, health and Local Government some of which had been completed while others were still in various stages of completion with funding coming from various sources.
Source: GNA