A lecturer at the Kessben University, Dr. Kofi Owusu Yeboah is calling for the formulation and implementation of development plans by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) that would market their tourism potentials to increase revenue generation.
Apart from the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) provided by the central government for the infrastructural development of Ghana’s MMDAs, there is the need to boost the collection of internally generated funds to complement governmental efforts.
The Common Fund is a development Fund that is intended to ensure equitable development of the various Assemblies in the country but the university Don says it is woefully inadequate to cater for the development needs of the various assemblies and wants the assemblies to complement government’s efforts through revenue generation at the local levels.
The Majority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Alban Sumani K. Bagbin, recently warned all District Chief Executives (DCEs) to use the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for its intended purposes to benefit the people, rather than using it for operational costs and other purposes, which do not have any impact in the lives of the people.
Though the District Assemblies Common Fund is for development, he lamented that some of the assemblies use it for other purposes such as administrative costs, maintenance of vehicles, buying of fuels for vehicles, and other operational costs instead of development, adding “that is not what the Common Fund is meant for”.
Kofi Owusu Yeboah sees the identification, development and marketing of tourist sites as a major avenue for generating revenue to enhance development in the country. He is unhappy that illegal mining is having a negative toll on Rivers Tano and Ankobra, among others while authorities look unconcerned and wonders whether the present generation can bequeath water bodies to their unborn children. He has called for the building of a national consciousness in the Ghanaian through the implementation of locally content based educational curricula.
