Interactions with traditional rulers, great encouragement — Prez

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described his interaction with traditional rulers in the country as a source of great encouragement for him and what he was trying to achieve for the country.

He said such dialogue provided an opportunity for him and the traditional leaders to understand the current situation, what was possible today and what could be done in the future.

President Akufo-Addo stated this when members of the Wala Traditional Council from Wa paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.

He expressed contentment about the amicable settlement of the Dagbon issue which, he said, had had a positive impact on other areas, including Wala, where a long-standing dispute had been settled and commended the Wa Naa for the feat.

He said the free senior high school (SHS) policy, the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), the One Village, One Dam, among other government policies, were part of a strategy to open up the country, provide employment opportunities for young people and help hardworking Ghanaians to benefit from their sweat and get Ghana moving in progress.

Wa Campus

President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that the University for Development Studies (UDS) campuses in Wa and Bolgatanga were going to be autonomous institutions and that the legal framework would be concluded for their start as fully fledged institutions.

In the same vein, the conversion of the Wa Polytechnic into a technical university would also be concluded very soon.

Roads

Responding to the request by the chiefs for road construction works in the area, President Akufo-Addo said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government claimed that it should be commended for constructing all the roads in the country, but surprisingly every traditional authority he had encountered in the last two years had complained about the bad nature of their roads and requested good roads.

He said the government with its limited resources was working assiduously to ensure that every region benefited from road construction either from the Sino Hydro Project or the government’s own resources.

The President pointed out that though it would be impossible to do all the road works with the limited resources, the works would be done equitably for each region to have its fair share, adding that there would be no discrimination.

Hospital, airport

President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the Health Minister would be in the Upper West Region next month to inspect ongoing works on the new regional hospital and ensure its completion so that the people would benefit from quality health care.

He announced  that the government was in discussions with some airlines in the country to extend their operations to the Wa and Ho airports for the benefit of the travelling public.

Wa Naa

The Overlord of the Wala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Pelpuo, commended the President for the introduction of the numerous policies and programmes aimed at bringing relief to the people and helping to accelerate the development of the country.

He said the deliberate gender sensitivity applied by the President in his appointments, was excellent and an encouragement to women in the country.