Peace, security vital for development in northern Ghana.

In this golden age of business, it is high time the people of northern Ghana worked towards the restoration of peace and security to promote tourism and attract investors to the area, Professor Anaba Alemna, lecturer at the University of Ghana's Department of Information Studies has said.

Presenting a paper on the topic ''good governance and sustainable development: focus on northern Ghana'' at this year's Northern Easter School currently underway at the Navrongo campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Professor Alemna said even though peace and security are important ingredients for good governance and sustainable development, the achievement of these vital ingredients poses a challenge in northern Ghana which, ironically, is the most disadvantaged part of the country.

''The intermittent eruption of both intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic conflicts have been a disturbing phenomenon in northern Ghana during the past 20 years". He said the toll of such conflicts in terms of lives lost, injuries, destruction of property and the loss of vital socio-economic infrastructure has been staggering.

"At the end of it all, scarce national resources have to be channelled into peace-keeping operations." Professor Alemna declared that as far as northern Ghana was concerned, good governance would require the strengthening of civic education, restoring people's confidence in the economy and creating participatory institutions of governance that must be sustainable.

The professor noted that the poverty situation in the north had led to an increase in the inequality gap that already existed between the northern and southern parts of the country. "Poverty and inequality undermine good governance as the poor find it difficult to organise and have their opinions heard", he said.

He added that efforts at redressing the problem must be made collectively by the state, civil society and the private sector since over-reliance on central government has so far proved inadequate.

On educational development, Professor Alemna noted with concern that while some basic schools in the south have either been connected or are getting ready to be connected to the internet, several second-cycle schools in north do not have functional computer laboratories.

Catching up with the development of modern information technology, therefore, presents another challenge facing the north. "If this information gap is not bridged soon, it may lead to negative socio-political consequences", he cautioned.

Professor Alemna further cited sound environmental management and gender consciousness as relevant factors in the pursuit of good governance and sustainable development for northern Ghana.

He mentioned small-scale gold mining and said much as it had improved the income levels of some of the people in the area, its social and environmental impacts must also be taken into consideration.

On the issue of gender, the professor said it was unfortunate that certain cultural practices and traditions of the north continued to keep women in subjugation even in the 21st century. He called for a review of practices such as female genital mutilation, widowhood rites and some aspects of the dowry system in the area.

He said unless the government combats the scourge of corruption effectively, poverty nation-wide would deepen, human rights abuses would be intensified and democracy would be undermined.

Emphasising that good governance is a prerequisite to sustainable development, professor Alemna tasked participants at the five-day East school to take a critical look at the paradox by which African countries have remained the poorest and highest debtors in spite of their abundant resources.