Who Is Collecting Tamale's Parking Revenue --- And Where Is the Money Going?

The spaces beneath Tamale's flyovers have increasingly been turned into parking areas, while some designated bus stops within the metropolis are reportedly being used as motorcycle parking points. If properly managed, such arrangements could provide the Assembly with additional revenue for sanitation, roads, street lighting, waste management and other public services. But there is a question that the Assembly must answer: Where does the money collected from these parking activities actually go? I raise this question not because I have evidence that any particular individual has stolen public money, but because the manner in which some of these collections are reportedly being made creates an environment in which public revenue could easily escape proper accounting.

The GH¢2 Motorcycle Charge
At some designated locations in Tamale, motorcycles are reportedly being parked and riders are required to pay GH¢2. GH¢2 may appear insignificant. But public finance is not about whether an individual payment is large or small. It is about volume, frequency and accountability. If 500 motorcycles each pay GH¢2 in a day, that is GH¢1,000. If the same level of collection continues for 30 days, it becomes GH¢30,000. And if the number of motorcycles is 1,000 per day, the calculation doubles. The question, therefore, is not whether GH¢2 is too little to worry about. The question is: How many GH¢2 payments are being made, and where is the corresponding revenue?

My Simple Question: Where Is the Receipt?

What prompted my concern was a simple question I asked when I was expected to make such a payment: "Where is the receipt or ticket?" I consider that a perfectly legitimate question. If money is being collected in connection with an activity taking place on public property and ostensibly under the authority of the Assembly, the person paying should be able to obtain evidence of payment. Unfortunately, the person described to me as the "contractor" in charge did not appear pleased with the question and reportedly became agitated. But why should asking for a receipt provoke such a reaction? A receipt protects both sides. It protects the citizen because there is evidence that payment has been made. It protects the collector because there is evidence of how much was collected. And most importantly, it protects the Assembly because there is a paper or electronic trail against which the revenue can be reconciled.

Cash without Receipts Is a Recipe for Leakage

This is where the matter becomes more serious. Whenever public money is collected without receipts, tickets, electronic records or another verifiable system, the opportunity for leakage increases. Imagine a collector receives GH¢2 from 700 motorcyclists in a day. Without tickets or receipts, how can the Assembly independently determine that 700 people actually paid? What prevents the collector from reporting 500? How does the Assembly establish whether GH¢1,400 was collected or GH¢1,000? What independent record exists? These are not accusations. They are basic questions of internal control. A properly designed revenue collection system should answer them without difficulty.

If There Is a Contractor, Let the Contract Be Known

Perhaps there is a perfectly legitimate explanation. Perhaps the Assembly has entered into a formal agreement with a private contractor. If so, that should not be a secret.The public should be able to know, at least in broad terms:

1. Who authorized the parking arrangement? Who is the contractor? What is the duration of the contract? What is the approved parking fee? How much does the Assembly receive?
2. How much, if anything, does the contractor retain?
3. How often must collections be remitted?
4. What receipts or tickets are issued?
5. How are daily collections reconciled?
6. Into which Assembly account are the revenues deposited?

These are standard accountability questions. They are not an attempt to frustrate legitimate private-sector participation in municipal revenue collection. The question I ask is: Can’t the Assembly engage the unemployed youth to work as revenue collectors? Why engage party faithfuls as revenue collectors? Often than not, these collectors are engaged in malfeasance, but are left the hook. Monies meant for the Assembly end up being used in putting up houses for these contractors.

Bus Stops Are Not Private Property

There is another issue that deserves attention. Designated bus stops are public facilities intended primarily to facilitate the movement and loading of passengers. If such spaces are being converted into motorcycle parking areas, the Assembly should clarify whether this has been officially authorized. If it has been authorized, what is the revenue arrangement? If it has not been authorized, who is collecting the money? The public should not have to guess.

Auditors Should Follow the Money
This is where the Assembly's internal audit system and other appropriate oversight institutions must come in. Rather than waiting for allegations of misappropriation to emerge, auditors should conduct a straightforward reconciliation exercise. They can determine the number of authorized parking locations, the approved charges, the number of vehicles and motorcycles using them, the tickets or receipts issued, the amounts collected, the amounts deposited and the amounts recorded in the Assembly's financial statements. Where contractors are involved, the relevant contracts and payment arrangements should also be examined. The fundamental question is simple: Does the money being collected correspond with the money appearing in the Assembly's books? If it does, excellent. If it does not, the discrepancy must be explained.

Every Cedi Matters
Ghana has spent decades talking about corruption as though it occurs only through huge contracts, procurement scandals and multimillion-cedi transactions. But leakage of public funds can also begin at the very bottom. One cedi here. Two cedis there. Ten cedis somewhere else. When multiplied by hundreds of transactions and repeated every day, the supposedly insignificant amounts can become significant. This is why citizens should never be told that their GH¢1 or GH¢2 is too small to require a receipt. It is public money that matters, not merely the size of the individual payment.

Citizens Must Also Demand Accountability

I therefore appeal to residents of Tamale: Whenever you are asked to pay a fee allegedly on behalf of the Assembly, ask for a receipt or ticket. Do so politely. Do not confront or abuse collectors. Simply ask: "Please, may I have my receipt?" If the collector says there is no receipt, the next question should be: "Under whose authority am I making this payment?" These are reasonable questions in any properly functioning public financial system.

The Assembly Has Nothing to Fear from Transparency

If the parking arrangements are legitimate, transparent and properly accounted for, then an examination of the system should actually strengthen public confidence in the Assembly.

The Assembly could even turn the controversy into an opportunity.

• It could publish the approved parking charges.
• It could identify authorised parking locations.
• It could identify authorised collectors.
• It could require numbered tickets or electronic receipts.
• It could introduce mobile-money payments where practicable.
• It could require daily reconciliation and banking of collections.
• And it could periodically disclose how much revenue is generated from these activities.

That would send a powerful message: Tamale's public revenue belongs to Tamale.

My Thoughts --- It Is a Call for Accountability

I wish to emphasize that I am not accusing any named individual of stealing public money. The allegation that revenue collected from these activities does not reach the Assembly should be investigated rather than assumed to be true. But the very fact that questions are being raised about collections without receipts is sufficient reason for the Assembly to examine the system.

Good governance is not about waiting until somebody is caught stealing. Good governance is about designing systems that make it difficult for anybody to steal in the first place. The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly should therefore clarify the arrangements governing the parking spaces beneath the flyovers and the use of designated bus stops for motorcycle parking. The auditors should follow the money.

The Assembly should ensure that all authorized payments are receipted. And the public should insist on receipts — even when the amount is only GH¢1. Because ultimately, the issue is not whether the money is GH¢1, GH¢2 or GH¢1 million. The issue is whose money it is. And if it belongs to the people of Tamale, then every cedi must be accounted for.

NOTE: My next write-up will be on the traders who display their wares on the streets or pavements, the filth in Tamale, and the indiscriminate positioning of signboards and billboards in town. But then, I want to ask the Mayor just one question: Honourable, I know you go through the streets of Tamale. Sir, do you see the filth all over Tamale, especially at the very center of the CDB?

FUSEINI ABDULAI BRAIMAH
+233208282575 / +233550558008
[email protected]