Story by, Paul Mensah Nsor
The Centre for Local Governance Advocacy says the public backlash trailing low scores in its 2025 Public Financial Management Compliance League Table is proof the tool is working.
Speaking at a media engagement in Accra to disseminate findings of the 2025 assessment, Deputy Executive Director of CLGA, Hon. Gladys Gillian Naadu Tetteh revealed that MPs, regional officials and assembly staff have been calling to question results, while some teams were "almost beaten up" during town hall meetings in districts that performed poorly.
The media coverage had created unprecedented interest and accountability around district performance.
"Some of you have been really, really reporting very well your points, and you really brought out the issues, which has led to a lot of people now paying attention to the media. Thank you very much," Hon. Tetteh said. "We've had calls from MPs asking why their district did not do well. We've even had regional staff asking about their district's performance. For me, the sentiments, the anger, and anxiety around this approach tells us people are paying a lot of interest to the league table."
CLGA noted that the 2025 assessment covered all 261 MMDAs nationwide, an improvement from 258 in 2024. Districts in Bongo, Banda South and Atwima South that were missed last year due to access challenges were included this year.
"The methodology we used did not change, so the same as 2024," Hon. Tetteh explained. "We trained the data collectors, validated the indicators, went to the field to collect data, did the assessment and then launched it."
The league table, first introduced in 2023, is designed as an innovative governance and accountability tool to measure compliance with statutory requirements in public financial management across MMDAs.
Presenting the methodology and results, Herbert Apaloo, Programmes Manager at CLGA, said the national average score for 2025 rose to 56.20%, up from 33% in 2024 and 22% in the 2023 baseline.
The assessment scored assemblies across five areas: Development Planning 20 marks, Composite Budget 12 marks, Procurement and Contracting 20 marks, Accounting and Reporting 15 marks, Internal Audit 10 marks, and External Audit 10 marks.
Key improvements recorded:
Composite Budget: Compliance rose from 29% in 2024 to 82% in 2025
Procurement and Contracting: From 31% to 79%
Accounting and Reporting: From 0% to 61%
Internal Audit: From 24% to 70%
External Audit: Increased to 43%
In 2024, only 12 MMDAs scored 50% or higher. In 2025, that number jumped to 153 MMDAs comprising 30 metropolitan, 73 municipal and 77 district assemblies.
For the first time, three metropolitan assemblies scored above the national average, compared to none in 2024.
Nine out of 16 regions scored above the 2025 national average. The top 10 performing districts in 2025 came from Ashanti, Oti, Volta, Western and Western North regions.
CLGA highlighted that while all regions improved, the pace varied. "Those who performed extremely well used to improve at a faster rate than the low-performing district assemblies," Apaloo noted.
Key Compliance Gaps Identified
Despite progress, the assessment flagged persistent weaknesses:
- Inadequate implementation of planned activities and stakeholder engagement in planning and budgeting
Low utilization of the Ghana Electronic Procurement System and late submission of procurement plans.
Unsigned minutes and missing bank reconciliations submitted as evidence.
Inadequate evidence of asset registers and segregation of duties in accounting units.
Limited implementation of internal and external audit management letters.
A significant number of MMDAs cited in the Auditor-General’s report.
"We saw that some assemblies were presenting 2024 data instead of 2025. There were documents that were not signed," Hon. Tetteh said. "If you send us unsigned minutes, what do you expect out of it?"
CLGA urged journalists to sustain coverage of the PFMCLT findings to deepen accountability at the local level.
"We hope that the media will report widely on the PFM league table findings for 2025, and also make citizens aware how their MMDAs are performing," Hon. Tetteh said. "Highlight both the top and the low performers to encourage improvement among MMDAs. Educate citizens on what good performance is and how they can use this information to demand accountability from their MMDAs."
She added that the media should follow up with assemblies on how they plan to address weak areas and use the findings as a reference point for reporting on governance, planning, budgeting, procurement and service delivery at the local level.
"In conclusion, looking at the 2024 data and comparing it with 2025, there's been significant improvements across all regions, and really, that is what we want to see," she added.
CLGA said it will next engage Parliament, the Local Government Service and other stakeholders, and develop a policy paper before commencing the next cycle of assessment.
The Public Financial Management Compliance League Table is an annual assessment by CLGA to promote transparency, compliance and accountability in Ghana’s decentralized governance system.
