A press release issued on 7th April 2019 by the Ministry of Finance urged all local councils to ensure that they transfer these funds to the various devolved sector accounts as per schedule sent to them. Additionally, council must display by way of public notice on their notice board each of the assigned amount.
This was done in accordance with the president address in parliament where he assured the nation of his government commitment in making local councils vibrant once again. In his address in parliament President Bio explained that “Before my assumption in Office, only forty three (43) of the 79 local functions were devolved and thirty six (36) of the scheduled functions continued to be implemented by central authority.”
He added: “Consistent with the commitment of my Government to decentralization, the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on decentralization has resumed sittings after several years of inertia. In March this year, 28 of the 36 outstanding functions were devolved to local councils with immediate effect and completed the review of the local government grant making mechanism. The review of the National Decentralization Policy and the Local Government Act 2004 is in progress” he said, assuring that in his second year in office, “we shall complete work on both the policy and Act, develop a revenue mobilization strategy for Local Councils, harmonize the relationship between Local Councils and Council of Paramount Chiefs to ensure mutual respect and trust, and align local council staff with the Civil Service Commission so that local council staff have the opportunity to serve at the central level and vice versa,” President Bio added.
