Mahama Ayariga says the government is working to overhaul Ghana’s property rates system so metropolitan assemblies, municipalities and districts can receive sufficient funding to deliver local services effectively.
The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs said he was discussing the proposed changes with President John Mahama and the Minister of Finance. He added that talks were also taking place with development partners to ensure all stakeholders were properly aligned.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, October 5, Mr Ayariga said the current system was affected by inefficiency, inconvenience for property owners and corruption. In some cases, he said, money collected from ratepayers ended up in private hands.
He said the government intended to introduce a centrally controlled collection system designed to remove the handling of cash altogether.
“Most Local Government staff deliberately ensure that the systems designed at the local level do not function for ulterior motives. We will roll out a centrally controlled mechanism for the collection of the rates which will totally take out cash collection. All payments will be electronic involving only MTN momo and electronic bank transfers. As a cardinal principle, we believe in service provision at the local level as a driving force for compliance,” he said.
Mr Ayariga said the government’s approach was based on the expectation that property owners would be more willing to pay when local authorities provided the services to which they were entitled.
He said effective service delivery would encourage compliance and reduce the need for enforcement.
“Minimal force will therefore be needed,” he said.
Contraflow trial
Mr Ayariga also identified urban mobility as a growing challenge as Ghana’s cities become increasingly congested.
He said President John Dramani Mahama had recently approved a trial of the contraflow system, allowing traffic to use lanes in the opposite direction during peak periods. The arrangement had enabled several thousands of commuters to travel more quickly on Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) “Ayalolo” buses.
“President John Dramani Mahama recently approved the trial of the contraflow system that has enabled easy and rapid movement of several thousands of city commuters during peak hours using the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) ‘Ayalolo’ buses,” he said.
The minister said the president was satisfied with the initial results and had arranged a meeting with stakeholders at his office on Thursday 7th October.
That meeting will assess the trials and provide directives on how the system can be maintained permanently.
“He is satisfied with the initial success achieved and has further scheduled a meeting of stakeholders in his office on Thursday 7th October to review the trials and give appropriate directives on how to sustain the exercise permanently,” Mr Ayariga said.
He added: “I want to assure you that contraflow as a way of rapid mass movement of commuters within our congested cities has come to stay until we have developed other ways of easy mobility in our big cities.”
