Volta Region holds forum on 2003 budget

Speakers at a public forum in Ho on the 2003 budget on Thursday blamed the poor state of development in the Volta Region on the inability of officials to lobby and follow up on projects earmarked for the region.

The tendency to isolate people with expertise who are considered as not belonging politically to the government in power also impeded on the ability of the region to harness vital human resources to propel its development.

The forum was organised by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and the Volta Region branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers to collate public views on the budget and how the region would benefit from it.

Mr S. K. Awunyo-Akaba, a Development Consultant, answering questions from the floor, said projects and programmes outlined in the national budget were like a "bowl of fufu," which others were scrambling to take part while those in the Volta Region were waiting to be served.

"It won't come, that is how other regions have progressed and we are wailing that we are not liked", he said.

He said involvement in the development of the region must be based solely on expertise and professionalism rather than one's perceived political inclinations.

Mr Awunyo-Akaba said this tendency continued to be a disservice to the region's development as square pegs have found themselves in round holes and for that matter unable to deliver.

He commended Mr Mawutor Goh, Ho District Chief Executive (DCE) for involving former members of the District Assembly in compiling a technical report on the eligibility of the Ho District Assembly, which has been made a Municipality.

"We will all benefit from this, irrespective of where we belong to politically", Mr Awunyo-Akaba said.

Related to this was the inclination to portray a false state of development in the region to please those in authority.

Mr Awunyo-Akaba said lack of public interest in the region on how the Local governing bodies such as the district assemblies were managing resources for development also led to inaction by such bodies to pursue important development programmes and projects in their areas of jurisdiction.

Mr Francis Ganyaglo, a Tutor at the Ho Polytechnic said much as the divestiture of some state enterprises and institutions had become imperative, the divestiture of strategic institutions such as the Ghana Commercial Bank would be detrimental to the economy.

He observed that the GETFUND was being over-burdened and diverted from its original aim of supporting the development of tertiary education.

Mr Ganyaglo explained that the Fund, which was to supplement the inadequate allocations in national budgets for the tertiary sub-sector of the education, is sliding towards being the sole source of education funding in the country.

He said lack of initiative by officials and people in decision-making in the region to project its development interests accounted for the poor state of its development.

Speaking on Education, Health and Children, Mrs Irene Asase-Dagadzi Head of the Dr Asase orphanage in Ho said future budget allocations to Women and Children's Affairs should provide specifically for children.

She said the assumption that empowering women financially would automatically lead to the improvement in the welfare of children could not be wholly correct.

"Not every woman who has a child or children is a mother in the true sense of the word," she said.

Mrs Asase-Dagadzi said the plight of orphans needed special attention from the state, especially with the increasing number of orphans arising from the HIV/AIDS scourge.

She said some children have become orphans even though their parents are alive but lacked care because of the poverty situation facing them.

"Unless the country makes conscious efforts to tackle the problem of orphans, we risk nursing more young armed robbers, prostitutes and other social deviants through no fault of theirs."