Law-backed devt plan a must - Naa Andani proposes

Ghana needs a legally binding national development plan to break the cycle of abandoned projects and ensure sustainable development. 

Traditional ruler and former Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Naa Alhassan Andani, said a clear and legally binding national development plan was needed to guide the country’s growth agenda.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Northern Ghana Development Conference in Tamale, the Pishigu Lana argued that the lack of an accepted national blueprint had resulted in successive governments abandoning projects to pursue new and partisan priorities, leaving the country “basically directionless”.

“My appeal to government is to ensure we have an all-encompassing national development plan that will be encoded into law. While we pursue our partisan politics, this would ensure we are only gauging speed, not direction,” Naa Andani said.

He added that many development projects remained uncompleted due to the absence of a consistent plan that all political parties could align with.

He stressed the importance of addressing this within the next few years to ensure that the north received its fair share of national development. 

Resource allocation

Naa Andani called for purposeful and positive discrimination in resource allocation to bridge the developmental gap between the north and other parts of the country.

“It behoves government to allocate development finance and capital in a way that purposefully addresses the areas that need it most,” he emphasised.

He further appealed to MPs behind the conference to institutionalise the initiative to ensure a sustained focus on development of the north. 

Conference

The conference is the brainchild of the 57 members of the Northern Caucus of Parliament, made up of one Independent Member of Parliament and colleagues from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

It was organised, in collaboration with the Northern Development Authority (NDA) and other development partners, to foster unity beyond partisan lines and consolidate a shared commitment to accelerate the development of the north.

The event was also attended by traditional leaders, students, youth groups, assembly members and religious leaders. 

Local development

The Executive Director of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Dr Charles Abugre, commended the parliamentarians for initiating the conference.

He stressed that investing in local development would create sustainable jobs and stem the migration of the youth from that part of the country.

He therefore appealed to the government and investors to prioritise northern Ghana in their development strategies to accelerate the growth of those regions.

National cake

The Majority Leader of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, pledged the commitment of the northern caucus to lobby for a fair share of national resources to drive the transformation of northern Ghana.

He added that the caucus would work closely with development partners and international investors to implement strategic projects and ensure that government services such as education, health care, water, electricity and infrastructure reached the people effectively.

“We have chosen to unite in a bipartisan way and embark on this mission at a time when the President of Ghana himself is from the north,” he said.

Mr Ayariga stressed that the caucus was determined and well positioned to uplift the development of northern Ghana through sustained and collaborative efforts.