The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, has appointed Dr. Sumaila Mohammed Asaah, a lecturer at the University of Development Studies in Tamale, to lead the creation of a five-year strategic development plan for the area.
The strategy that technocrats, traditional leaders, political leaders, religious leaders, CSOs, NGOs, and other stakeholders are supposed to put together would be finished by the end of the year.
Alhaji Abubakar Inusah, the Chief Director at the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, made this known when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper Show.
“A strategic group was put together to ensure that they draw up a strategic plan for the region. They are at work, and very soon we will share the document with everybody. Of course, we would require the inputs of many people in terms of collaboration or teamwork so that, at the end of the day, we will achieve the results for which the region was created. You would agree that one of the key issues for which the regional minister was recalled from his ambassadorial role was to come and deal with the challenges. Most of the development indicators were negative. Talk about teenage pregnancies, sanitation coverage, performance contractors, et al. If it comes to the league table, we were always at the bottom. He came up with a strategy to ensure that we reverse the trend. As we speak, these trends are reversed. Progress has been made,” he said.
According to the Chief Director of the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, in November 2022, a forum was held in the region. At the end of the forum, a team was put together to ensure that the document is development to represent the sentiments people and its need for development
He continued to say that the plan would be an adaptation of an earlier plan by the Northern Development Authority.
“We want to enrich that document with the ideas we collected from the forum in November. It would be a 5-year strategic bank that would cover all aspects of development,” Alhaji Inusah said.
The Chief Director of the UERCC explained that, properly harnessed, the natural resources available in the Upper East region would help the rapid development of the area.
“We have water bodies, mineral deposits, clay deposits, you can name them. One is wondering why with all these resources, we are always described as one of the poorest in the region.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana