Mr Mark Wayongo, Upper East Regional
Minister, has called on Ghanaians, especially those in the opposition parties, to stop
what he termed the "pull him down" syndrome and help push the nation's
developmental agenda forward.
He made the call during a victory rally organized by members of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Navro-Pungu Constituency of the
Kassena-Nankana District at the weekend.
He noted that politics was about development and nothing else, and emphasized
that nothing should be done to mar the beauty of politics and democracy.
He said now that the election was over what was needed was for all and sundry
including the opposition parties to partner with government and contribute towards
nation building.
He observed that the extent to which the Navrongo constituency was polarized
was not the best and asked all those involve in the polarization agenda to stop the
practice since that would mar development in the area.
Mr Wayongo announced that the Government had good programmes and policies
in place, especially with the development of the agricultural sector, and indicated that
farming inputs would be subsidized and marketing also provided.
He cited the intention of the Government to turn the Fumbisi valley into a major
rice producing area, with the provision of seedlings and tractor services.
Government, he indicated, would provide them with markets by purchasing the
rice after harvesting, and deduct the cost of inputs before paying the balance to the
farmers.
He reiterated Government's intention to bridge the north-south development gap by
establishing the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), and appealed
to the people to form cooperative groups to enable them to benefit from the
programmes.
He announced that the Canadian International Agency (CIDA) had promised to
support the three Northern Regions with 15 million dollars for the promotion of food
security.
Mr Wayongo however appealed to traditional rulers in the area not to hesitate to
release land for farming and other productive ventures.
He said with the good policies and programmes of government and assistance from
other developmental partners, the livelihood of the people in the area would be
boasted and poverty alleviated.
He said negotiations had been concluded with the Regional Health Directorate to
re-activate the Navrongo Mortuary at a cost of 8000 Ghana Cedis, as part of measures
to reduce the burden on the Bolgatanga Hospital Mortuary, which is the only one in
the Region.
The Minister, who lost the Navrongo Constituency Parliamentary seat to Mr Joseph
Kofi Adda of the New Patriotic Party in the 2008 polls, stressed that one of his major
objectives was to ensure that the NDC captured all the 13 Parliamentary seats in the
Region come 2012.
He said all the intended good policies and programmes of the ruling government
would impact positively on the lives of the people in the area and this would convince
them to vote for the party.
He emphasized, however, that without peace all the noble plans and programmes to
be embarked on by Government to alleviate poverty would become illusive and
appealed to the people to eschew conflicts and violence.
Mr Richard Adua, the first Regional Vice Chairman of the Party, stated that the
NDC Government would continue with the good programmes introduced by the NPP
administration and cited the on-going road construction in the area started by the
previous Government as an example.
He advised members of the party especially the youth to embark on vigorous
campaigns to win more people to the party, to enable the party win both the
Presidential and Parliamentary elections in 20012.
Alhaji Baba Alhassan, the Navrongo Constituency Chairman of the party, said the
NDC Government was burnt on fighting all the injustices including economic, social
and political as experienced under the NPP Government.
He reiterated the need for members party members to start working seriously,
saying that, he was optimistic that the party had the chance of retaining power in 2012.
Professor John Bonaventure Kaburise, a member of the Party and also a former
Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS), advised the
Minister to be steadfast and ignore rumour mongering, to enable him to discharge his
duties.
He called on the people in the Region to give the Minister the necessary support to
move the Region forward, describing him as somebody who had the foresight for
development.
Residents of the area called for the extension of the electrification project to
facilitate development.
GNA