Accra, May 9, GNA - Vice President John Mahama on Monday gave the assurance that the government was on course to successfully implement the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to ensure parity in the country's development agenda.
He said various positions in the staff and management of SADA had already been advertised in the media and a competent recruitment agency had been contracted by the Board of SADA to select the Chief Executive Officer and 11 other Directors to establish a functional secretariat towards a vigorous implementation of the programmes. This assurance was contained in a statement signed by Mr John Jinapor, the Spokesperson for the Vice President and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
The statement, according to Mr Jinapor, was in reaction to some youth organisations and civil society organisations that had over the months accused the SADA of inactivity. "The Board of SADA in collaboration with the office of the Vice President is making frantic preparations towards holding a major stakeholder's conference in June, which will afford the various stakeholders the opportunity to deliberate on raising the needed capital towards the smooth takeoff," he said. Mr Jinapor said prior to parliamentary approval of the SADA bill, stakeholders in the three original regions had been engaged to provide further orientation on SADA strategy, while, District and NGO stakeholders in 10 districts in the Northern, Volta and Brong-Ahafo regions had been engaged in detailed assessments to determine their priorities for development under SADA as part of preparations towards a speedy implementation of the programme.
He said chiefs and other opinion leaders within the catchment areas of SADA had been consulted on their inputs towards a successful implementation, while the Vice President had also held series of fruitful meetings with NGOs, civil society organisations, development partners and other governments on possible cooperation. Mr Jinapor said the interim secretariat has been established to coordinate the start-up of SADA under the Office of the Vice-President and a Development Policy Advisor has been appointed by the President to head this secretariat and advise the government. SADA, a government policy initiative, is aimed at addressing the development gap that exists between northern and southern Ghana. 09 May 11
