ACCELERATE SADA IMPLEMENTATION (BACK PAGE, NOV 13, 2010)

Participants in a public forum on the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in Tamale have appealed to the government to facilitate the speedy implementation of the initiative to help realise its objectives of improving the lot of the people in beneficiary communities.
“We commend the government for ensuring that the initiative has moved from a political slogan into an act of law. We hope the talks would, therefore, now give way to action so that we the beneficiaries will feel the needed impact”, Iddrisu Alhassan, a participant, indicated.
The day’s public sensitisation forum had the theme: “Making SADA work for all.” It was organised by SEND-Ghana, in collaboration with the Northern Development Forum (NDF), all civil society organisations, and funded by Oxfam-GB and Christian Aid-UK.
Other participants who spoke to the Daily Graphic in an interview also entreated all stakeholders to ensure that this new initiative did not fail. They also called for the fair distribution of projects under the SADA to all beneficiary regions and districts.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba, assured the people that the government meant business by introducing the initiative and added, “this is the difference between well-intended plans for the people and mere political gimmicks.”
He, therefore, said the initiative was a demonstration of the government’s resolve to bridge the socio-economic gap between the savanna regions of northern Ghana and the rest of the country.
A development consultant and policy adviser to the Vice-President on SADA, Dr Sule Gariba, observed that the slow growth in the northern savanna areas was delaying the nation’s achievement of the MDGs.
He further noted that the prevailing climate change was worsening the plight of the people since it was responsible for the perennial flooding and drought in the north.
The Chairman of the NDF, Dr Hakeem Wemah, said the emerging oil and gas potentials in the country would not make much impact if the skills of the youth were not developed to take advantage of the discovery in that sector .
A representative of an advocacy group, Savanna Women Empowerment Group of Ghana, Mrs Helen Koranteng, underscored the need for women to be actively involved in the decision-making processes of the SADA.
The Country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, said the organisation, which was established in 1998, now operated in six regions and 42 districts in the country.
According to the director, his outfit was into forging strong partnerships with state and non-state actors that were marked by mutual accountability, transparency and effective communication, to provide a conducive atmosphere for innovative development programmes.