Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, a former Upper West and Upper East Regional Minister has called for the depoliticisation of development and developmental policies, particularly at the Regional and District levels.
Professor Avea Nsoh said the continuous politicisation of development could erode gains made and also stall the continuation of same in certain areas.
He shared these sentiments when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East about the development of the Upper East and Upper West Regions.
The former Minister for the Upper West Region is remembered fondly in the region for his ingenuity and fortitude, to against all odds, develop a plan that would ensure the development of the Upper West Region. The development of the plan saw the coming together of individuals and organisations with varied backgrounds.
Professor Avea Nsoh was however worried that the continuous politicisation of issues of development could continue to stall the development that the Upper East and Upper West Regions need.
He recounted that while drawing up the development plan for the Upper West Region, he engaged leadership of opposition parties in the Upper West Region, a decision he said would see him receive serious backlash from members of his own party.
“I had a serious bashing when I was called to Accra. All of them gathered to bash me for inviting opposition leaders and all sorts of things. I was shocked. I was shocked because I was the Regional Minister and I was in charge, all the DCEs in the area were part of the development strategy along with all the chiefs”.
“Once you have the direction and the people to clearly carve the direction you need with you, then you leave out the politics, which we did successfully, it made it easier to develop. Unfortunately, that is what we are not doing now. People came later on and did not see it in that same vein. What my successors failed to see is because we used that strategic plan, the stakeholders, they understood what we wanted to do,” he said.
Professor Avea Nsoh continued to say that “every Ghanaian wants some sort of progress. They are tired of this everyday insults and struggles and the continuous poverty”.
Meanwhile, speaking on the same platform, Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, intimated that both Upper East and Upper West Regions have failed to reach their full potential in the area of development because of the lack of a clear plan.
Professor Nsoh, speaking on the development of the two regions after his tenure as Regional Minister of both regions on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, said to enhance regional development, there needs to be a clear development plan that has been properly documented.
A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
