In line with Regulation 17(3) of the Public Financial Management Regulation ,2019, LI 2378 as well as paragraph 157 of the 2025-2028 Budget Preparation guidelines, the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council has organized a Zonal Budget Hearings for Zone 7 Assemblies. The Regional Budget Hearings are being organized for all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) from Monday, 20^th to Thursday, 23^rd October 2025.

The Hearings which took place on Wednesday, 22^nd October at the Ga West Municipal Assembly Hall, Amasaman was held for members of Zone 7 Assemblies which comprise of Ga West, Ga North, Ayawaso Central and Okaikwei North Municipal Assemblies. The purpose of gathering was to review the 2025 budgets of the 4 Municipal Assemblies and work towards the preparation of the 2026 budgets. Budgets are formulated to guide MMDAs in their resource mobilization and to ensure prudent utilization of their financial resources. In the course of the presentation, the Panel members from the Ministry of Finance and the Regional Coordinating Council will review the budgets and make recommendations which officials can factor into their 2026 budget their Assemblies approve the budget.

The Municipal Budget Officer, Madam Mary A. Acquah presented the budget for Ga West Municipal. She stated that the Municipal was established in 1988 and currently has 25 Assemblies members out of which 19 are males and 6 females. The total population of the municipality is 353,563. Male 173,000 plus and females 129,000 plus.  She gave a brief overview of the policies the municipality have adapted to cover their political, administrative, business organizations for sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

According to her, the Assembly has keen interest in education, health, accessible water, agriculture, reliable sanitation services and the district economy. She further stated that the district has a total of 67 health facilities, 45 are public and 22 are private. She said the district has 35% economically active population in agriculture which comprise 98% of families and 2% large scale holders. She explained that these people mainly engage in livestock and other major crops like maize, cassava and vegetables.

According to her, the municipality currently produce a total of 84,552 tons of waste per year and 55,153 tons are collected by the Assembly through franchising. 

For road networks the municipality has a total of 1680 kilometer with 28.45 paved and the rest unpaved.

Present at the Hearing were the Municipal Coordinating Director (MCD) for Ga West, Mr. Isaac Kwakye, the Presiding Member(PM) for Ga West, Honorable Emmanuel Amuzu, Municipal Coordinating Directors for Ga North, Ayawaso Central, and Okaikwei North. Also present were Budget Officers from all 4 Municipalities, Departmental Heads and Administrative Officials.

All 4 Assemblies presented their budgets which were well reviewed. Bringing the 4 Assemblies together to review their budgets creates room for them to learn from each other towards executing excellence service delivery.

Source: Rachel Sarpong, ISD-GWMA