Daily Graphic formidable development partner; Dr Letsa declares at Volta Regional Spotlight launch

The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has described the Daily Graphic as a formidable partner in the development of the region and the country, by extension.

His description followed the Daily Graphic’s appealing exclusive coverage of various sectors of the region in its fifth edition of the Regional Spotlight.

The regional minister, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the Volta Regional Spotlight at Hotel Stevens in Ho last Saturday, said the region had numerous positive stories to tell and was grateful to the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) for its exposé on the region.

An overly impressed Dr Letsa commended the management and staff of the GCGL and the Daily Graphic in particular for its partnership in unearthing and showcasing the potential and opportunities for especially economic growth in the region.

He appealed to citizens of the region, both home and abroad, to help “us explore our potential and help contribute to the local economy. We have made great progress, but sometimes we are too hard on ourselves”.

The Daily Graphic, the biggest and most widely circulated newspaper brand in Ghana, launched its first edition of the Spotlight on the Western Region in July 2019.

Subsequent editions have been launched for the Upper West, Eastern and Bono regions.

The initiative is intended to expose the potential of the regions to the rest of Ghana, the business community and the world in order to open them up for rapid development.

The latest edition, like the others, contained a cocktail of developmental issues across all spectrums, while highlighting investment opportunities that exist in the Volta Region.
Some businesses also took advantage of the opportunity to advertise their products and services to make their presence felt.

Land litigation

Dr Letsa highlighted land litigation as a key challenge that was thwarting development in the region and which had succeeded in driving away investors and appealed to traditional authorities in the region to intervene in managing such challenges in order to fully support the government’s efforts.

Living up to expectation

The Guest of Honour at the launch, Togbe Gbogbolulu V, the Paramount Chief of the Vakpo Traditional Area, saluted the Daily Graphic for playing its role to aid development.

He indicated that the importance of the media as an agent of development could not be overemphasised.

He said for the media’s mandate to be fully realised, it was imperative that they engage communities at the grass-root level on discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of the various development agents in order to fashion out a holistic assessment of development efforts.

He commended the Daily Graphic for living up to that expectation.

Equally impressed with the region’s potential, the Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ato Afful, described it as incredible, saying that it needed to be developed.

He also described the people as the most amazing human beings living in abundant investment potential which oozed numerous economic opportunities.

He said the Daily Graphic brand had, since time immemorial, performed its mandate as a mouthpiece and played advocacy roles in helping to promote development.

“It is not always very simple for a people to speak for themselves every day, and we will help you speak. There may be needs that you have and challenges that you face that will require resources to help promote. This is the platform, mandate and opportunity that you have,” he said.

Mr Afful gave an assurance that the launch of the spotlight taking place during the 70th anniversary of the GCGL would not be lost, as it would be a continuous initiative.

Patronage

There was an overflow of patrons at the launch, which saw in attendance officials from various public and private departments and agencies, the chieftaincy institution, academia and students, district and municipal chief executives in the region and the security agencies.

Representatives of the institutions were presented with copies of the newspaper.

The launch was spiced with cultural dances and music by the Ho Police Band.

A short documentary on the region shown at the launch drew a lot of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience, who were obviously surprised at the numerous untapped resources of the region of which they were learning for the first time.

As has been the tradition since the first Regional Spotlight edition, a health walk involving teachers, individuals and members of the security services along some principal streets in Ho preceded the launch.

The Police Band was in attendance.