Compliance of Financial Management Regime in Ghanaian Local Government

Abstract

The study investigates the budgeting, accounting and reporting practices of Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana and the extent to which these practices conform  with financial regulations and laws, specifically the Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462) and the Financial Memorandum of MMDAs, (2004). The study relied on the survey design in the collection of the relevant data. The data was collected through self-administered questionnaires to 20 MMDAs purposively selected. This was supplemented by structured interviews and observations. The result shows an average level of total compliance with financial laws and regulations index of 12.33 (representing 82.2%). Moreover, the study establishes that there is no significant difference among MMDAs regarding their level of compliance with the laws. The findings also suggest that there is no significant association between number of accounting staff and level of compliance with financial laws and regulations.  The study concludes that the assemblies’ compliance to budgeting, accounting and reporting provisions is encouraging, even though total compliance is ideal.

Key words: Financial management, Budgeting and budgetary control, Compliance index, Accounting and reporting, MMDAs in Ghana.