President Akufo-Addo
Any worthwhile conversation on the need to develop the ‘Savannah’ regions brings to mind the failed Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA). It did not only expose John Mahama and his administration as cliquish and incompetent, but also as ‘political twisters’ who created the initiative just for political purposes.
SADA then imagined an over 200 communities, stretching from the Middle Belt and northern Volta into the ‘northern’ regions. On paper, it would have been a brilliant project, except that it was seen as a ploy to get constituencies outside the ‘anti-Akan domain’ get in bed with a party they truly belong and keep voting for it. That was regardless of the ritual of disappointments the NDC repays Volta and ‘Northern’ constituencies.
Indeed, it was also to pipe a certain propaganda to the effect that there was now a government that would focus on developing vulnerable communities.
As one would reckon, these together constitute close to half of the total number of constituencies in the country.
Propaganda, ‘rural’ politics
The creation of that ‘animal’ was based on the notion that governments had developed the South and that it was time now to develop the North, Volta and Brong-Ahafo regions, which had been largely “anti-Akan” in the propaganda dynamics created by the National Democratic Congress.
Again, since the communities targeted under the project constituted rural economy, crop and livestock production became a key programme.
Of course, that was strategic, except that the thinking behind it was ‘ethnical and diabolical’. That was aside of the huge budget and resources intended for the ambitious initiative getting into the hands of cliques and cronies. They turned the whole programme into a goldmine, without any regard for the deplorable socio-economic conditions afflicting people in the over 200 communities.
Little wonder, when it came to accounting to the people and our development partners, we had scored an awful negative in agriculture, in spite of the ambitious SADA programme.
Then and now
The difference then and now is that under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, growth in crop and livestock has been modest and positive.
From light industries in food and meat processing, through rail and lake transport, as well as tourism and bulk-breaking infrastructure, the northern regions are strategic in becoming a hub of economic activity in the sub-region.
That has found relevance in the assurance made by Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia during a recent visit to part of the Savannah area.
All over the entire ‘North’, road construction and rehabilitation have begun in earnest in laying out the infrastructure needed to drive the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) dream in which the contribution of the ‘North’ is central.
A major irrigation facility in Tono has just been rehabilitated and handed over to government. That’s aside of road networks that are being added on, as well as water projects and an inland port which are under implementation.
No empty talk
Clearly, we have moved from the theatrics of empty talk and ‘sham and scam projects’ to development that the traditional rulers themselves admit is concrete.
It is the hope of the Daily Statesman that residents in these Northern communities who are seeing the difference would appreciate these efforts and truly own the programmes as they roll out by ensuring that they are maintained.
We also believe that as they take their share of the ‘Agenda 111’ in health delivery and educational amenities, they would understand that politics is about development and improving lives and livelihoods of citizenry.
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