Central Region elects new GNAFF officers
The Central Regional Branch of the Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF) has elected new executive members to steer the affairs of the association for the next four years.
The election was conducted by the Electoral Commission in Cape Coast.
The newly elected Chairman to lead the group is Abraham Dwuma Odoom, a former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, with Ishmael Oji Bassey as his Vice Chairman.
The Secretary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Organiser, Women’s Organiser and Youth Organiser positions went to Asare Dapaah, Clement Sarfo, Shirley Ankrah, Mas-x Afraid Annoh, Charlotte Bernklu and Richard Anane Gyesi, respectively.
A Financial Economist and Policy Analyst, who doubles as the Head of the Trade Finance and Treasury at Wilmar International for West and North Africa, Dr Peter Kwesi Terkper, who addressed the members, said the GNAFF was a very important association in the development agenda of Ghana and needed to position itself to strategically help feed the nation per its slogan of feeding the nation.
Need for collaboration
He said as farmers and fishermen, they could not do it alone and, therefore, needed collaboration with the government to succeed.
‘’The GNAFF is one association that has its structures from the top to the grassroots, where it has leaders from the national level through the regions and then to the various assemblies across the country.
“The association has been on low key for some time now, however, I’m sure the current restructuring is going to revamp the association to reclaim its past dynamism and everyone must, therefore, be committed in their various spheres to help revive the association’”, Dr Terkper emphasised.
He explained that looking at the data available, the GNAFF is probably the largest within the trade union, considering the number of people involved in farming, fishing and other related activities and “as a country, we needed to pay much attention to the GNAFF activities seriously in our interest.”
The Deputy Central Regional Director of Fisheries, Sardie Amartey, who represented the regional director, said two issues that the Fisheries Commission had been battling with in the region were Irregulated, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) cases of the use of dynamite and unapproved mesh in the fishing activities by the fisherfolks.
He said there was a need for the fisherfolk to always observe the rules and regulations, both locally and internationally.
The newly elected Central Regional Chairman for the GNAFF, Abraham Dwuma Odoom, on behalf of the new executive members, thanked the Central Regional GNAFF for the confidence reposed in them to lead the Association for the next four years.
He said as much as they had accepted the various offices, it behoved the regional association to support them in whatever ways possible for the entire GNAFF in the region to succeed.
