The discussants, who were mostly media practitioners’ drawn form the various media houses across the country, met to review house drawn strategies on how to use the media to strengthen business advocacy. The meeting was possible through the collaboration of the Ghana journalists Association (GFA), KAB Governance Consult and the BUSAC fund.
It was observed during the deliberation that assemblies do not engage business operators or ratepayers in the districts before fixing fees for businesses. This has become a major hindrance to the growth of small-scale businesses at the district levels. Assemblies’ focus has largely been about how to meet or beat certain revenue targets and therefore their sources of revenue have been the same. It was observed that improvements in collection by moving form the traditional sources to more innovative ways would be crucial to the revenue mobilization drive of the assemblies.
There are instance that some assemblies have enhanced their revenue not from new sources, but by reengineering their pricing such as differential pricing for people of different income levels.
It was observed the assemblies’ attitudes towards revenue collection are due to their perceptions about their uneconomic obligations. For instance, should assemblies be first and foremost be income –generating or economically competitive entities what would happen to their social obligations if they become more profit-oriented.
The contribution to social cause is often represented as a loss to the assembly by auditors. Performance assuagements of assemblies (such as auditing) focused more on processes and not result. Therefore, Assemblies are not commanded on their achievement s but rather questioned on non Assemblies and SMEs as partners in development.
Another critical area of concern was about strengthening collaboration between assemblies and SME association. It has become very dear that such collaboration has facilitated revenue collection in some areas of the country but it is important for it not be seen as a convenient relationship for revenue for revenue collection alone.
The relationship could be extended to data collection and securing information on SME circumstances to facilitate planning and programme implementation to meet their needs.
Though SMEs are not obliged to belong to association, assemblies’ engagement with the associations should yield such benefits as would encourage non-members to become member. That collaboration would be an opportunity for assemblies to services such as fencing, security and showrooms for their products.
Participants indicated that it was important that assembly members recognize SMEs as partners in development. For instance, women traders who work under the scorching sun and labour to make ends meet should be given attention by the assembly.
It would appear that assemblies did not return the rate-payers gesture of prompt payment of taxes with prompt attention to their concerns. The observed.
Some participants wounded assemblies had any plans for SME and whether there was scope for then to generate and explore innovative ideas at the local level. "To this end, I was important to encourage the technocrats to the assemblies" a participant observed.
Some participants were concerned about the high incidence of poverty in some districts and how assemblies in those areas would help their people out of such circumstances. One participant indicated that he had been humbled by the level of poverty is such assemblies as Tain.
It was agrees that assemblies needs to formally recognizes SMEs and to this ends, the SMEs could be encouraged to come together and register their entities properly and pay the necessary taxes. Instances were cited of associations collaborating extensively with assemblies such as the GAIT – sponsored CIVIC unions While assemblies register NGO and CBOs as a way of recognition, some small business associations do not come forward for fear of paying taxes.
It was noted that business could also play a role in accessing support for the vulnerable and the marginalized beyond the public sources. If proposals were properly developed, assemblies.
Source: Graphic Business Tuesday, February 24 March 2, 2009By: Suleiman Mustapha
