The 2008 Budget has been presented to Parliament. So many initiatives, policies, and programmes aimed at boosting the living standards of Ghanaians have been highlighted. Some of these include an amount of US$460 million out of the sovereign bond proceeds that will be spent in the energy sector, provision of electricity to 5 communities in each of the 166 Districts of the country, and tax incentives to financial institutions to increase not only the flow of credit to the sector but also to reduce interest rates on agricultural loans to the 5%-10% range and to lengthen the maturities of term loans to between 5 and years.
Other interventions to be introduced in the course of the year include the development of an agricultural investment Fund/Farm Credit Corporation with 100% agriculture focus to provide a range of financial services such as working capital and term loans, insurance, and leasing; the setting up of a plant in the country to manufacture CFL bulbs, intensification of provision of micro credit facilities to fisher folks and fish processors, provision of safe and potable water, as well as the about 60,000 jobs to be created annually as a result of the construction of affordable houses.
Another laudable initiative is the Stabilization Fund, which is to serve as a measure to insulate the economy from external shocks, specifically the unpredictability of export earnings from our major exports i.e. cocoa, gold, timber, and oil in the near future.
Perhaps the two most glamorous and heartwarming pieces of news from the 2008 Budget is the setting up of the Northern Development Fund, and the consolidation of School Feeding Programme, with an assured source of funding (National Lotteries). The fund will be invested to ensure protection as well as the growth of the Fund.
The setting up of the Northern Development Fund is one thing which for me has demonstrated the fact that the NPP government under President Kufuor is not motivated by partisan and political considerations. After all, how many votes or seats can the NPP boast of in the three northern regions? Why are the petty commentators and ethnocentric politicians not asking this time as to why it is the north and no other region?
Individuals and organisations like The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) on Friday commended the government for coming up of a policy in the 2008 budget to address regional inequalities.
"The setting up of Northern Development Fund (NDF) to bridge the gap between the south and the north divide is good news to the people of northern extraction," a statement signed by Mr. Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, President of NORPRA said.
The Organisation said the government at last had heeded the recommendation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and other groups and individuals for such a policy.
The APRM had said, "progress in the attainment of a considerable number of the goals set out in the Growth and Poverty Reduction (GPRS) and in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is distorted by wide urban-rural and general disparities in the distribution of socio-economic development in the country with the three northern regions and some parts of the coastal Ghana lagging far behind the rest of the country. Therefore the political will should be marshaled to address the regional marginalization."
Is the above not what the listening NPP government has complied with? Even in this, the argument of some Oliver Twists is that the seed money is too small. Since when did governments and politicians begin talking about regional imbalances in development? If every government since independence, including some that had a monopoly of enjoying a whopping 20 out of the 50 years of our independence, had taking a similar step in this direction, we wouldn?t be talking about it today.
Today it is the north. Let those who have christened the NPP as an Akan party now backtrack and refer to it as a Northern People?s Party! Can they? So you see that there is no point in ethnic and divisive politics?
Kudos to the NPP for this laudable initiative. No matter how small it may seem, it is at least a step forward. As stated in page 420 of the budget statement, "a more detailed financing plan will be prepared by the Government. In the interim, Government has earmarked an amount of GH ?25.0 million as seed money for the establishment of a Northern Development Fund, and will encourage development Partners to contribute to the Fund. "
People of northern descent, inhabitants and well wishers of the north, and all lovers of democracy should embrace this policy direction, aimed at bridging the gap between the north and south. Let?s be patriotic and exhibit a spirit of Ghana first, than letting petty partisan considerations derail our developmental agenda.
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