VARIOUS – Tuesday October 3, Tuesday October 10 and Monday October 16, 2017: The Head of the Local Government Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur delivered keynote addresses at the stakeholder engagement workshop on the Implementation of the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). The event was organised through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD) in Tamale, Kumasi and Accra. The workshop brought together key staff of selected Assemblies in the northern, southern and middle belt of the country. Dr. Arthur was accompanied by the Chief Director and Director for Research, Statistics and Information Management of the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS).
Addressing the gathering, the Head of Service reiterated some of the benefits of full scale implementation of GIFMIS to include: integration of budget preparation and execution systems; adequate budgetary controls; interface Public Financial management (PFM) Systems across government agencies, timeous processing of transactions and proper management of records on public financial transactions among others.
Dr. Arthur said the understanding of frontline staff of MMDAs on the current public financial management reforms is crucial to improve financial management at the MMDA level. He indicated that, implementation of the GIFMIS programme would improve transparency and accountability; and ensure equitable distribution and effective use of public resources in the country. He was elated with the successful rollout of GIFMIS to the 60 pilot Assemblies and lauded the GIFMIS team for their support, awaiting the scaling up to the remaining 156 MMDAs.
Among others present at the function were the Auditor General, the Controller and Accountant General, the Head of Civil Service, a representative of the Ministry of Finance, the Project Manager of IFMIS and Regional Ministers.