Financial and Accounting manual for LGAs validated

The second draft financial and accounting manual for Local Government Authorities across the country, was yesterday validated at the Paradise Suites Hotel in Kololi.

The one  day validation workshop organised by GAMWORKS Agency came following the commencement of the implementation of sub-projects under the third public works project financed by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

One of the key components of this project is to provide technical assistance and training for the Local Government Authorities. Officially declaring the workshop open, Alasana Jammeh, permanent secretary at the department of state for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, said the process of decentralization as enshrined in the Local Government Act should not be view as an end to itself, but rather as an integral factor in the attainment of Sustainable Human resource Development.

The improvement of financial and human resource mobilization in support of decentralize   governance he went on will improve planning and local service delivery initiatives. PS Jammeh revealed that the capacity development component is aimed at improving administrative and managerial capacity of local governments, as well as data collection for improved monitoring in terms of ratable collections to maximize revenues.

He disclosed that projects   within this output aims at empowering local authorities by promoting sound financial viability, institutional capacity and strengthening of smooth implementation of the Strategic Action Plans (SAP), as enshrined in the Local Government Act.

Additionally, he continued, evaluation of existing capacity needs to be taken into account before    the    implementation   of the    program.  “Implementation plans should have rigid selection criteria and in the absence of such capacity, training is mandatory - some degree of technical know-how is necessary before further steps are taken,” PS Jammeh noted.

“A holistic approach to decentralization, which does not take into consideration the different capacities of various local governments tends to create problems for weaker Councils. Capacity building stimulates achievements in the area of human capital development which translate into robust financial management,” he observed.

He concluded by imploring on all the participants to give the needed desired attention for a thorough understanding of the manual set for validation.
Bubacarr Sankareh, auditor general at the National Audit Office, chaired the opening ceremony.