Business mogul and a member of the Council of State, Alhaji Asuma Banda, has assured the people of Ashanti Region that the region will get its fair share in the distribution of the nation’s resources.
“We will make sure that Ashanti Region gets its share of the national cake. We will make sure that all on- going projects are completed and in time,” said Alhaji Banda.
Alhaji Banda, also called on public officials to loudly tell the success story of the Mills Administration, adding a lot had been achieved by way of development projects and interventions like the free distribution of school uniforms and removal of schools under trees, a testimony of the “Better Ghana Agenda.”
“It is important to help the people to appreciate this”, he stated.
Alhaji Banda gave the assurance while speaking on behalf of President John Evans Attah Mills, at the opening of the four-day Ashanti Regional Policy Fair at the Centre for National Culture (CNC) in Kumasi, last Wednesday.
He said the situation where government officials kept information to themselves was unhelpful as it tended to fuel needless public speculation and gossip.
“It is a one-stop shop to showcase the achievements of the Government and the giant strides it is making to transform the socio-economic situation of the people”, said the member of Council of State.
Alhaji Banda also drew attention to the need to improve data collection for effective planning and implementation of policies and programmes. He invited the business people in the Region to take advantage of the stable economic environment to help create jobs and grow the economy.
He noted that Ashanti was blessed with enormous resources that needed to be tapped to better the lives of the people. He charged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to focus on the provision of development projects, infrastructure and social interventions for the region.
Participants at the fair included Government Institutions, all the MMDAS in the region, to showcase programmes, policies, activities and achievements of the various participating agencies of the government.
The Fair which is on the theme: ”Empowering the people as we build a ‘Better Ghana’, the Ashanti Region Experience”, was to allow Policy makers to interact with their various beneficiaries, assess each other’s impact and enquire information among themselves.
Mr. John Tia Akologu, Minister of Information, said the Mills Administration had demonstrated good leadership qualities. “There had been remarkable improvement in infrastructure, science and technology at all sectors of the economy during the NDC’s short rule”, he added.
He spoke of the Information Ministry’s determination to strengthen the Government’s information machinery, saying, it could not leave the dissemination of information to the people to chance.
He said everything would be done to ensure that the people remained part of the governance system. On his part, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah, espoused the achievements that the region has had under the present NDC government.
The region, he said, has done a lot with government sourcing funds in support of health, education, roads, development initiatives, agriculture and others.
The Regional Minister mentioned roads, schools and hospital blocks, which have been rehabilitated. “We have extended electricity, improved water and sanitation conditions, eliminated the incidence of schools under trees, provided free school uniforms and exercise books.”
