Advocacy group on Upper West launched
A senior lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr Boye Bandie, has called on the people of the Upper West region to take their destiny into their own hands and help develop the region.
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According to him, the Upper West continued to lag behind in terms of development because it had always been the belief of its people that the development of the region was the preserve of politicians.
"Every region is a reflection of its people and so if you say the Upper West is poor and underdeveloped, look at the people and vice versa," he noted.
Dr Bandie, who was visibly emotional, said this at the launch of an advocacy group in Wa.
Known as the " Development Advocates of the Upper West Region Association ( DAUWRA), the group which is nonpoliticals has membership from all the ethnic divides in the region and its main objective is to advocate equitable development for the region.
Dr Bandie described the underdevelopment of the Upper West region as an injustice to the people and urged the people to rise up and fight for the benefit of the region.
Describing the region as one which is endowed with lots of intellectuals and quality human resource, Dr Bandie said " although we have more intellectuals as a region, we are narrow focused".
He stated, for instance, the number of politicians from the region and those who occupied positions of repute and indicated that their roles as politicians and representatives of the people over the years was not a true reflection on their people.
He advised the people to embrace DAUWRA as their" political party" and shed their differences, particularly on political, religious and ethnic lines to facilitate the development of the region.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, who graced the occasion, urged the people to shift away from the old ways of doing things and support him to develop the region.
He further called on the people to contribute towards the development of the region and not solely depend on government projects as the only source of development.
The President of DAUWRA, Mr Joachim Gornah, explained the essence for the formation of DAUWRA and said people from the region must buy into the idea so that as a group they would demand from stakeholders what is due the region.
He also called for unity among Upper Westerners and said it was the only way they could succeed as a people.