GOVERMENT VOTES GH¢582.081 FOR CENTRAL GONJA DISTRICT… To tackle development projects

The Central Gonja District of the Northern Region is to receive GH¢582,081.21 from the District Development Fund to support its development programme.

This makes the young district one of the fourth highest recipients of the fund in the entire country. This was announced by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Central Gonja, Issifu Salifu Be-Awuribe, at the first-ever Ordinary Meeting since 2009 in Buipe.

The meeting discussed a wide range of issues bordering on security, education, revenue mobilisation, health, agriculture, tourism, rural electrification, employment generation, water, sanitation and disaster prevention and management, among others.

Addressing the meeting, the DCE called on all stakeholders of the district to embrace peace to accelerate the development agenda of the area.

According to him, peace formed an integral part to the development success of every community, and therefore promised to develop a consultative and all-inclusive mechanism with the stakeholders, to address all conflict issues in the area.

Mr. Be-Awuribe promised to deal drastically with any recalcitrant group or persons who would flout the laws of the area, as the assembly strives to invite investors to establish in the area.

Another area of priority, the DCE indicated, was how to reverse the falling standard of education in the district, especially among the girls. Attributing the situation to the lack of commitment on the part of parents and some traditional authorities, Mr. Be-Awuribe bemoaned that the majority of the students from Primary to Junior High school, do not attend school during market days at Buipe and Yapei, which are on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Central Gonja District has a total number of 60 kindergartens with 4,253 children, 86 Primary schools with a population of 11,889, and 16 Junior High schools with a student number of 2,299, of which only 961 are females.

Regrettably, the district has no public Senior High school.

The DCE therefore called on the government to assist the assembly put up a standardised school to absorb the JHS students, who have to travel to far off places for their secondary education.

The DCE also pledged on behalf of the assembly to devote more resources to improve upon quality education, by providing more classrooms and teachers' accommodation to replace the makeshift structures in the various communities.

Mr. Be-Awuribe disclosed that the assembly would intensify its internal revenue mobilisation drive, since the quantum of the District Assembly Common Fund was largely based on the internally-generated fund by the districts.

He also promised to liaise with the Ministry of Health to upgrade the Buipe Health Centre into a District Hospital, establish more Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) Centres, and operate them with qualified health staff to bring quality health service to the doorsteps of the people.

The DCE expressed the need for his administration to revamp the agricultural sector of the district, since it employed over 80% of the indigenes, and serves as the power house of the district.

He thus unveiled plans to modernise the Black and White Volta lakes to reduce the drudgery farmers go through in providing food, and as well provide more irrigation schemes, free tractors and fertiliser to the farmers.

Mr. Be-Awuribe finally promised to offer transparent leadership, corruption free administration, judicious use of revenues to benefit the people, strengthen the already existing financial systems, and ensure strict compliance of the Financial Administration and the Public Procurement acts to reduce corruption.