Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Chief Executive, Richard Ofori -Agyeman Boadi , has attributed the assembly’s dwindling internally generated funds (IGF) to the creation of new municipalities carved out of the metropolis.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse monitored by Kumasimail, he explained that although former KMA enclaves such as Suame, Asokwa, Tafo and Kwadaso now operate as independent municipal assemblies, the workload of the KMA has not reduced to reflect the shrinking revenue base.
“My main challenge is resources,” he stated. “The creation of other assemblies out of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has caused a financial problem for the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. The volume of work for the KMA remains the same. The resources that the KMA originally depended on to carry out its responsibilities have largely been taken away because of the creation of other assemblies, he added.
The KMA boss noted that major revenue-yielding areas, which once contributed significantly to Kumasi’s IGF, have been redirected.
He cited the Suame Magazine industrial enclave, whose revenues now go to the Suame Municipal Assembly, and the Asokwa area, where property rates, levies, and fees are paid directly to the Asokwa Municipal Assembly. Similar situations apply to Kwadaso and Tafo.
He explained “Now, if you look at the Suame Magazine enclave and consider the amount of money that the area would generate in terms of IGF potential, it has now gone to the Suame Municipal Assembly.
Ofori Agyeman continued “All the industries that were in Kumasi are now within the Asokwa constituency, which also has its own municipality. This means that all the IGF to be collected from property rates, fees, charges, and other sources from the Asokwa enclave now go to the Asokwa Municipal Assembly.
“As we speak, Kwadaso has its own assembly and Tafo also has its own assembly. In essence, all the revenues that previously came from those areas have now been taken away from the KMA.”
Responding to suggestions that the creation of new assemblies should automatically ease KMA’s responsibilities, Ofori Agyeman Boadi dismissed the notion, stressing that the central mandate of the assembly has not changed.
“Kumasi’s main challenge is waste management essentially. Waste management, sanitation, security, before even infrastructure. These remain under the KMA, and they require enormous resources,” he emphasized.
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
