The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has once again ripped open the underbelly of local governance in Ghana, exposing a terrifying culture of fiscal lawlessness, administrative rot, and structural decay within the Atiwa West District Assembly. To read the Auditor-General’s findings on Atiwa West is to witness a financial crime scene where public trust is systematically butchered by the very officers paid to protect it. At a time when local economies are suffocating, the assembly has chosen to operate as a sieve—bleeding vital Internally Generated Funds (IGF), hoarding unremitted statutory taxes, and misplacing critical financial instruments like bank cheque leaflets with absolute impunity. This is no longer mere incompetence; it is an active economic betrayal of the people. While our youth roam the streets without jobs, trapped in the destructive cycle of illegal mining (galamsey), the assembly sits on its hands, completely blind to sustainable economic alternatives. Atiwa West does not need more empty promises or bureaucratic excuses; it needs an urgent, radical structural overhaul.
The Blueprint of Financial Lawlessness: Key Infractions
The PAC proceedings laid bare a pattern of gross misconduct and broken financial controls that must be condemned by all well-meaning citizens:
- Illegal Retention of Statutory Taxes: The assembly weaponized GH¢20,437.94 in unremitted taxes, illegally intercepting state funds to cover up internal cash shortages instead of sending them to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
- Vanishing Bank Instruments: The shocking disappearance of official cheque leaflets from the assembly’s Anyinam GCB bank books exposes a total breakdown of physical inventory security, creating a massive loophole for parallel, untraceable spending.
- The “Ghost” Revenue Collectors: The assembly relies heavily on permanent internal revenue officers whose fixed monthly salaries frequently outweigh the actual market, lorry park, and business fees they collect.
- Dead Capital and Trapped Wealth: Massive amounts of public funds remain locked away in half-finished, stalled capital projects, highlighting reckless planning and a failure to secure cash flows before launching expensive construction contracts.
FINANCIAL INFRACTION PROFILE (ATIWA WEST) [ Tax Retention ] ──► GH¢20,437.94 diverted from GRA compliance [ Value Books ] ──► Missing GCB Bank cheque leaflets unsecured [ Human Capital ] ──► Collector salaries outstripping actual IGF [ Infrastructure] ──► Stalled development blocking liquid public funds
The Indictment from Leadership
The frustration with this cycle of local assembly failures was forcefully captured by the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Abena Osei-Asare, who chided local public servants during the hearings: “We’ve stopped using that cliché; inheritance means you take both liabilities and assets. You must uphold integrity and impartiality… we need financial accountability in MDAs.”
Compounding this parliamentary fury, the Regional Audit team has consistently noted that the Eastern Region routinely leads the pack in statutory fund misuse. As the Regional Auditor observed during local government reviews: “The extensive weaknesses and deficiencies in internal controls, pervasive non-compliance with frameworks, and management lapses mean these assemblies prioritize recurrent spending over the actual economic survival of their people.”
Harnessing Mahama’s Reset Agenda: Scaling Up Nkoko Nkitinkiti, Rabbits, and Quails
To permanently steer our desperate youth away from the hazardous, mud-filled, mercury-laden galamsey pits, the Atiwa West District Assembly must urgently plug its financial leaks and align with national development blueprints. True industrialization does not require complex infrastructure; it begins by aggressively domesticating production. The assembly must look directly to the flagship “Nkoko Nkitinkiti” Poultry and Backyard Production Initiative launched under President John Dramani Mahama’s “Reset Ghana Agenda”.
Historically, rearing Nkoko/Nkukor (hardy poultry) and Nkitenkiti (prolific local rabbits) alongside quails was treated as a casual, backyard hobby managed by children or grandmothers to feed families during local festivals. Under President Mahama’s aggressive import-substitution policy, this culture has been fundamentally restructured into an engine for economic independence. The Atiwa West District Assembly has a duty to operationalize this vision locally. Instead of wasting scarce IGF on operational leakages, the assembly must actively buy and distribute free starter stocks of day-old chicks, breeding rabbits, and quails directly to young adults across the district.
By backing this free distribution with targeted veterinary support and initial feed supplies, the district will empower young adults to establish self-sustaining micro-enterprises. This removes the high capital entry barrier that pushes young people into illegal mining pits. These micro-livestock require minimal land, breed at explosive speeds, and command a high-value premium in urban meat markets. This is how a district builds local employment, ensures food security, and restores dignity to its youth—transforming subsistence activities into active commercial wealth creation.
The Alternative Path: 5 Strategic Recommendations to Rescue Atiwa West
The assembly can no longer claim there are no jobs for the youth. The destruction of Atiwa’s rich landscape must be met with aggressive, localized economic alternatives that engage our young people directly:
- Mandatory Eco-Restoration (Tree Replanting): The assembly must legally compel small-scale miners and mobilize the youth to lead massive, paid tree-replanting campaigns across galamsey-degraded lands to restore the devastated Atiwa forest ecosystem.
- Free Distribution of Micro-Livestock (Nkoko, Nkitenkiti, and Quails): Under the framework of the national Reset Agenda, the district must freely supply starter poultry, rabbits, and quails to young adults to foster local self-employment and generate rapid-turnover income.
- Diversified Animal Husbandry: The assembly must invest a chunk of its agricultural budget into modern goat, sheep, and pig farming, providing the youth with startup livestock and veterinary support to create self-sustaining meat supply chains.
- Small-Scale Industrialization: Set up localized agro-processing cottage industries—such as cassava processing, oil palm extraction, and animal feed mills—to add value to local farms and move the youth away from illegal mining pit sites.
- Commission-Based Revenue Modernization: Fire or reassign underperforming, fixed-salary tax collectors and replace them with a dynamic team working on a strict commission-only percentage structure to maximize IGF collection.
Atiwa West stands at a critical crossroads between systemic collapse and economic rebirth. The damning revelations at the Public Accounts Committee must serve as the final wake-up call for a district assembly that has slept on its duties for far too long. We cannot continue to watch public officials mismanage state funds while our youth destroy their future in muddy, mercury-filled galamsey pits. The wealth of Atiwa West is not just buried under the ground in gold; it is waiting to be unlocked in the soil through sustainable farming, animal husbandry, and small-scale industries. The Ministry of Local Government and Decentralization must step in immediately, enforce strict surcharges against corrupt officials under Act 921, and compel the assembly to implement these youth-centered economic reforms. The people of Atiwa West deserve accountability, they deserve leadership, and above all, they deserve a future free from institutional rot.
✍️ Retired Senior Citizen
For and on behalf of all Senior Citizens of the Republic of Ghana 🇬🇭
Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]
