George Yaw Boakye, Ahafo Regional Minister
The Ahafo Regional Minister, George Yaw Boakye, has disclosed that the region, one of the six newly created regions in 2019, is experiencing significant development, three years after its creation.
He has therefore called on investors, estate developers and tourists to come over and make sound investment for good returns in helping improve lives and livelihoods.
Mr Yaw Boakye said the newly created region is experiencing human centered social intervention programmes and rapid growth that the area previously lacked, adding that “the region is endowed with abundant natural resources including fertile lands for mechanised farming”
Enumerating the strides his administration had made, he disclosed that the progress had been in key areas such as health, education and inclusive governance.
The Regional Minister made the call during the bi-weekly Minister’s Press Briefing put together by the Ministry of Information yesterday.
He noted that region has a ready market for produce, skilled and unskilled labour force and raw materials for processing.
“Ahafo is one of the newly created six administrative regions in Ghana, with 5,193 kilometers (2,005 square miles) land size, with an estimated 554,668 populations, sizeable for development. It has huge investment potentials and the peaceful atmosphere provided for safe investment. Ahafo land is blessed with abundant clay deposits for the ceramics industry, natural forest reserves with species of wildlife and aquatic life for tourists and holiday makers,” he stated.
Achievements
He acknowledged that, within a period of five and a half years of the administration of the NPP, the region had witnessed significant achievements inuring to the benefits of the lives of the people.
Touching on education, Mr Boakye said the region had been a beneficiary of significant investment in education by government, revealing “it placed the region first as the hub of public basic education, as pupils in the region led in the first-ever National Standardized Test (NST) for Primary Four pupils.”
“The results of the NST, in which almost 390,000 P4 pupils from 14,883 public schools participated, showed that the region, together with the Western and Western North Regions emerged as a strong base for lower primary education. In addition, the region placed second in the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), placing first in specific subjects like Mathematic, Integrated Science and Social Studies,” he announced.
He added that the region had also witnessed improvement in educational infrastructure, including the construction of classroom blocks, dormitory blocks, assembly halls, administration blocks, teachers’ quarters, dining halls, among others.
Health
The Regional Minister further disclosed that, in line with government’s vision to create and expand access to health service and enhance the quality of health service delivery in the region, various development projects in the health sector in the region had commenced and are progressing steadily.
“This includes the construction of a Poly Clinic at Mim in the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly, construction of CHPS compound at Jachie, Atudrobesa, Konkontreso, Asutifi South District etc. The construction of a district hospital in Kenyasi, for instance, is also progressing steadily,” he added.
On governance, the Regional Minister underscored the need to bring government closer to the people. He said all the Departments, Institutions and Agencies had been established and fully functional in the region.
Mr Yaw Boakye stressed that “locals no longer have to travel long distances to Sunyani and other places to access simple everyday services as hitherto was the case”.
Governance
He further revealed that government had embarked on a number of infrastructural initiatives to boost governance and improve administration of the Region.
“These include ongoing works on the Main Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) Administration block in Goaso, which is at an advanced stage of completion; completion of residential accommodation for senior staff of the RCC at Goaso. In addition, there is ongoing construction of the Regional Health Directorate and office complex at Hwidiem, among other development projects,” he mentioned.
The Regional Minister urged locals to tap into the massive socio-economic and infrastructural developments in the region for economic benefit as a way of contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.
He pledged the full support of the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) to protect the projects, facilities and properties of investors, developers and tourists visiting the region by ensuring improved security, harmonisation, monitoring and partnership.
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