A Complete Flip of the Coin: Savelugu Municipal Assembly Has Turned the Tables on the Public Financial Management Compliance League

The Public Financial Management (PFM) Compliance League Table is an evidence-based assessment tool designed and adopted by the Ministry of Finance to rate, monitor, and oversee the performance of state institutions with regard to their adherence to the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, 2016 (Act 921) and related fiscal regulations.

The essence of this assessment initiative is not only to engender public trust by fostering transparency, fiscal discipline, and accountability in the use of public resources across the 16 regions of Ghana. Its significance also lies in ensuring and promoting the judicious use of resources — very scarce resources — in a developing nation like Ghana that is still lagging in many spheres of development.

The credibility of the Public Financial Management Compliance League Table is further enhanced by the fact that it is deployed by an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit research institution: the Centre of Local Governance Advocacy.

In 2024, under the erstwhile NPP administration, the performance rating of the Savelugu Municipal Assembly in the Northern Region of Ghana, under the incompetent and feckless leadership of Hajia Ayishetu Seidu, was exceedingly abysmal and shameful. The Assembly ranked second to last, placing 15th out of the 16 MMDAs in the Northern Region and 242nd nationwide, ahead of only 19 MMDAs across the country.

Today, the enviable achievement of the Savelugu Municipal Assembly under the leadership of Hon. Alhassan Fuseini Bagaman is evident in the Assembly’s improved national performance on the Public Financial Management Compliance Nationwide League Table.

Like the speed of lightning, the accuracy of time, and the diligence of a bee, the MCE and his dependable team at the Assembly miraculously moved the Savelugu Municipal Assembly from 242nd position on the Public Financial Management Compliance Nationwide League Table in 2024 under the NPP to a highly commendable 51st position in 2025 under the NDC.

This means that, in 2024 under the NPP, the Savelugu Municipal Assembly outperformed only 19 MMDAs on the Nationwide Public Financial Management Compliance League. But with the current transformational leadership, excelling professionalism, and overwhelming competence at the Assembly, the SMA has now outperformed 210 MMDAs on the 2025 Nationwide Public Financial Management Compliance League.

With this enviable and outstanding achievement by the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, we, the people of Savelugu — especially members of the NDC — would not be pardoned by Allah if we failed to appreciate and sing the praises of our MCE and his team at the SMA.