Minister calls for decentralisation of SADA
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, has called for the decentralisation of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and its programmes to make it visible and more focused.
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That, according to him, would encourage participation in the activities of the authority, generate much interest in its programmes and achieve the needed impact.
Dr Nsoh made the observation when he addressed representatives from civil society organisations ( CSO) which were among a team of stakeholders crafting an Upper West regional development strategy at the Regional Coordinating Council ( RCC) in Wa.
The objective of the regional development strategy is to guide and direct development interventions for the rapid transformation of the economy of the region and to achieve a reduction in the poverty level for a sustainable development.
This is based on the realisation that certain key factors such as the lack of proper and coherent planning both at the regional and district levels have been the bane of development in the region.
There is also poor coordination, harmonisation and ineffective monitoring and evaluation, among other challenges.
It was on the basis of this that STAR Ghana, an NGO, presented a cheque for $50,000 to the stakeholders to facilitate the drafting of the development strategy.
Dr Nsoh emphasised that the Upper West Region was endowed but needed the right approach to be able to reap the desired benefits.
He promised to work to make the region a model one, and called on institutions to make inputs into the strategy.
The Programmes Manager of STAR Ghana, Mr Ibrahim Tanko, said the initiative was a way of ensuring that the ordinary people of the region shared their concerns in what needed to be done in terms of policy decisions at the regional level.
He stressed the need for people from the three regions of the north to desist from making poverty “a badge of honour" and rather take steps to move out of poverty rather than taking pride in it.
For his part, the Director of PRONET North, Mr Martin Dery, on behalf of the CSOs, expressed appreciation to the RCC and STAR Ghana for initiating and supporting the regional development strategy.
