Gov't secures $100m from US partners

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Deputy Minister of Energy

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Garu-Tempane in the Upper East Region, Dominic Azimbe Azumah, has disclosed that the government has secured a $100 million credit facility from the General Capital Corporation of the United States of America, for the financing of the national rural electrification scheme for the Upper East Region.

He said the scope of the project involves the extension of electricity supply to 500 deprived communities in the region, which would be executed within the next two years.

About 50 communities from the Garu-Tempane district are benefiting from the scheme.

The MP also announced that the process to establish a district hospital in the area had been completed, and that the project would commence before the end of the first quarter of 2011.

Mr. Dominic Azimbe Azumah announced these at the celebration of this year's Danjuar Festival at Kpikpera, near Garu, over the weekend.

The MP said the hospital, when completed, would help balance the problem of referring patients to the Bawku Municipal Hospital, which was very far from the area. Mr. Azumah said plans were also far advanced by the Ministry of Education to upgrade the Garu-Tempane Senior High School to boarding status, to curtail the long distance the students travel to school.

The Danjuar Festival, which covers 58 villages and beyond, is not only an annual ritual for merry making, the delivery of speeches, and display of cultural activities, but an opportunity for stocktaking and practical implementation of policy documents aimed at improving the socio-economic lives of the people. It is also a period set aside to strengthen the bond of friendship among the ethnic divides.

Mr. Azimbe urged the people of the region to collectively, make meaningful contribution towards the prevailing peace process in Bawku, adding that development cannot strive when there is disunity, chaos, and anarchy.

The feuding factions in Bawku were also charged to iron out their differences and forge ahead, to ensure lasting peace, through dialogue and reconciliation.

Mr. Azimbe mentioned the construction of a district hospital at Garu and Bawku, the elevation of the Garu-Tempane Senior High School to boarding status, as well as the extension of electricity to most rural communities in the area, and the region at large.

The Garu-Tempane District Chef Executive, David Adakudugu, also assured the Bimoba Union of an ultra modern office complex, and a borehole.

He also pledged to construct a dam for the community, to ensure all year round farming, and called on the people to be serious in their farming activities.

Mr. Adakudugu commended the prevailing peace in the area, and charged the people to volunteer information that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of criminals.

The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Lucy Awuni, took the opportunity to congratulate all the newly-elected assembly and unit committee members on their victory, and urged the people to give them maximum support and co-operation, devoid of party politics, so as to deepen the decentralisation programme for the people at the grassroots level.

Other dignitaries, including government officials, representatives of the chief of Nankpanduri, and the Bawku Naba, were present to grace the occasion. The event was celebrated on the theme: 'Unity with Peace is Development.'