The Board Chairman of the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy (CLGA), Bernard Joe Appeah has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to sustain improvements in public financial management and ensure consistent performance across successive assessments.

Speaking at a press briefing on the 2025 Public Financial Management Compliance League Table (PFMCLT) on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, Appeah said although more assemblies performed above the national average this year, maintaining those standards remains a challenge.

According to him, 153 out of Ghana’s 261 MMDAs scored above the benchmark in the latest assessment, an improvement on the previous year.

“From 2023, when this assessment started, the number of assemblies scoring above the set average has increased. This year, 153 out of the 261 assemblies performed above the average,” he said.

However, he expressed concern about the inconsistency in the performance of some assemblies.

“Some assemblies were 1st in 2024 and are around the 90th position in 2025. We need consistent performance so that the well-performing assemblies become models for others to learn from,” he stated.

Appeah also highlighted concerns about the gap between internal and external audit findings, saying more attention should be paid to understanding why the two often differ.

“We need to be cautious about the gap between internal auditors and external auditors. We need to find out why that gap exists,” he said.

Beyond financial management, the CLGA Board Chairman called on assemblies to improve public engagement by regularly reporting on their performance to residents.

He noted that although the law requires assemblies to organise town hall meetings and account to citizens, many fail to do so.

“They are supposed, according to the law, to organise town hall meetings and present their performance, but this is hardly done,” he said.

Appeah further stressed that stronger citizen participation is essential to improving local governance and accelerating development.

He also urged journalists to continue playing their constitutional watchdog role by reporting on governance issues professionally and without partisan influence.

“The press is the Fourth Estate. Whatever we are doing, let us uphold non-partisanship and professionalism. We should understand every subject matter well so that we can help the public understand it better,” he said.

The Public Financial Management Compliance League Table is an independent initiative by the Centre for Local Governance Advocacy that assesses how well Ghana’s Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies comply with the country’s public financial management laws and regulations. The assessment covers development planning, budgeting, procurement, accounting, financial reporting, internal auditing and external auditing.

Report by Clankson Acheampong for Asaase News in Accra.