Northern Chiefs laud govt developments initiatives

Chiefs in the Northern Region have lauded government for implementing innovative initiatives aimed at transforming the Ghanaian economy.

They noted that initiatives such as the Free Senior High programme; National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP); Planting for Food and jobs; One Village, One Dam; and the One District, One Factory programmes are helping to transform the economy and improve life for the people.

The commendation was made by the chiefs when the Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal interacted with them at separate fora on Wednesday and Thursday.

He was accompanied by the former Northern Region Minister, Mr. Prince Imoro Andani, and some Northern Region New Patriotic Party (NPP) officials.

The chiefs who interacted with the minister included: Ya Naa Abukari Mahama II; Mion lana Abdulai Mahamadu; Yoo Naa Abdulai Yakubu Andani; Diare lana Abdulai Abukari II; and Kadinaa Yakubu Alhassan.

Dr. Awal, who is on a week-long tour of the Northern Region, used the occasion to apprise the chiefs on government policies and programmes.

The chiefs appealed for government to broaden the scope of these initiatives to enable many more people to benefit.

On the Free Senior High School programme, the chiefs noted that the programme is a major policy intervention that will enable more people from Northern Ghana to access Secondary education, and therefore entreated government not to relent on implementing the Free Senior High School programme.

They were confident that the teething-problem of inadequate infrastructure will be resolved in due course.

Touching on Entrepreneurship, the chiefs were happy that many young entrepreneurs in Northern Ghana have benefitted under the Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP), which has enabled them to establish businesses while others have expanded theirs.

They however appealed for more funding to enable more young entrepreneurs in the area to establish their own businesses.

The chiefs expressed satisfaction with the country’s macro-economic indicators and noted the need for government to move from stability to growth, adding that this will help create jobs for the youth.

Dr. Awal commended the chiefs for their support in the implementation of key government initiatives, and assured them of government’s commitment to implement more initiatives that improve the people’s lives.

He said government will not discriminate against any community in the implementation of policies and programmes.

On his part, Prince Imoro Andani thanked the chiefs for supporting government policies and urged them to continue rallying behind government.