President directs MoF to pay counterpart funding

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday directed the Ministry of Finance to pay the counterpart funding for all Self Help Electricity Projects throughout the country.

He said the move is to ensure that 80 percent of Ghanaians enjoy electricity by 2016.

President Mahama said this when he joined the chiefs and people of the Asogli State for the 2013 Yam Festival.

The event under the theme: "Traditional Leadership and Development Redefined" also attracted patrons from the Republics of Togo and Benin.

It is an annual festival that is celebrated to give thanks to God and ancestors for a bumper harvest, offer prayers for good health and to foster unity through forgiveness and reconciliation.

The festival is also to mobilize both human and material resources of the Asogli state for job creation.

President Mahama said, much as government had the responsibility to transform the lives and dignity of the people, the citizenry also had the responsibility to support government to achieve the development targets.

He said under a Chinese Development Bank loan, government would construct two landing sites in the Volta Region and complete the eastern corridor road.

President Mahama condemned land and chieftaincy disputes that had bedeviled the country over the years, and appealed to the people to unite for rapid socio-economic development.

The President said government in collaboration with the Japanese government would, under the Yen loan Portfolio, also construct a new bridge on the Lower Volta River.

He said government would also build a new interchange at the Tema roundabout to ease congestion in the area.

President Mahama said government would construct the Sogakope Water Project to supply potable water to the Volta Region and to parts of southern Togo.

He said government would also upgrade the Ho Regional Hospital into a teaching hospital that would serve as a training and research centre.

Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbomofia of the Asogli State, said development was a shared responsibility and appealed to government to bring together all the stakeholders of development to brainstorm on the way forward.

He commended President Mahama for inviting the political leadership of Togo to the programme.

The Agbomofia appealed to chiefs of the region to educate the people and help eliminate negative traditions that inhibit development, and promote the positive ones.

He said:"Some reform will be necessary if the institution of chieftaincy is to facilitate development, and I want to ask that we uphold and respect traditional practices and customs that inspire us."