A Capacity Building Workshop has been held for Members of the Budget Committee, Zonal Councils, and other key officers for the preparation of Composite Budgets of the Assembly.
The purpose of the Training Workshop was to enhance the professional capacity of Budget Committee Members, Cost Centre Managers, Zonal Councils, Budget Management Units, Heads of Departments and other key Officers of the Assembly charged with the responsibility of preparing administrative budgets particularly the 2023 – 2026 Composite Budget.
The Workshop was organised by the Wenchi Municipal Assembly and facilitated by the Budget Unit.
The objectives of the Training was amongst others;
- Update the knowledge of the Budget Committee and Officers on budget formats, policies and instructions in budget Preparation.
- Deepen the knowledge and skills of Budget Committee Members and Officers on the policy objectives, updated Chart of Account (CoA) for 2023 budget preparation and beyond.
- Provide updated knowledge on Programme Based Budgeting thus the new budget structure and documents.
It was also to update Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies on the Ghana Infrastructure Fund Management Information System (GIFMIS).
The Training Workshop was expected to result in;
- Enhanced quality of Composite Budget of MMDAS.
- Updated budget preparation software.
- Improved Social Accountability at the sub national level.
- Improved use of the GIFMIS for Budget implementation.
- Updated knowledge in PFM Reform initiatives.
The Municipal Budget Analyst Desmond Titus Banon who took participants through the Training explained the Adopted Policy Objectives of the National Medium Term Development Plan, General Concept of Budgeting, Public Financial Management, the Concept of Decentralisation, Legal & Regulatory Framework, Operations & Projects.
The orientation also took participants through the two types of sources of funds for the Assemblies. These include Decentralised transfers from Central Government and Internally Generated Fund.
Following the introduction of Programme Based Budgeting (PBB) at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in 2016, programme structure was created based on the core mandate and functions of existing Departments to operationalize the Programme Based Budgeting. The structure was configured onto the Activate Software and GIFMIS Financials to facilitate budget preparation and implementation. He urged Heads of Departments and Units to comply with the new structure and operationalize the Programme Based Budgeting. The rationale for the review and introduction of the new structure is to incorporate lessons and recommendations from the implementation of initial Programme Structure developed in 2016; To improve Administrative Decentralisation occasioned by the creation of additional Departments under the Second (2nd) and fourth (4th) Schedules of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936). The new Structure is also to assist with the transfer of funds to newly established Departments to facilitate budget Preparation and implementation under the requisite service delivery programmes. The Budget Programmes include Management & Administration, Social Services, Infrastructure Delivery & Management, Economic Development, Environmental Management.
