The Upper East Regional minister Dr. Hafiz Bin-Salih re-echoed government’s commitment to resolving the Bawku conflict which remained the biggest challenge of the government adding that government intended a permanent resolution to the decades conflict so as to bring back to normalcy the one-time business hub of the region.

The regional minister made these known during the celebration of the 20th Annual Zekula Festival of the chiefs and people of the Bissa community of Ghana held at Kulungugu in the Pusiga District of the Upper East Region.

He stated that the threat of terrorism in the Sahel was of concern to our Internal and National Security more especially in our border communities such as Pulimakom and Kulungungu which have since been inundated with immigrants from Burkina Faso and Togo, hence the need to monitor people movements
and report suspicious characters to the security agencies as contained in the slogan “See Something, Say
Something”.

On security he said government had beefed up security in terms of Military and Police to forestall any security breach saying government established Two Military Battalions in the region; thus 11th Mechanised Battalion located in Bolgatanga, responsible for Upper East and the North East Regions, and the 12th Mechanized for Upper East and Upper West located in Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region.

Dr. Bin-Salih praised the security agencies saying they have showed determination to adhere to their constitutional mandate of protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country against any form of aggression. All what they require from us as community stakeholders is our unalloyed support with our native intelligence. He urged all border community residents to be vigilant and weary of these insurgence and to report any suspicious moves within our communities.

He indicated that the region was also àààendowed with both natural and man-made resources such as water bodies, mineral deposits, rocks and clay for ceramic production. In light of this, it has huge potentials for agricultural productivity adding agriculture remained the mainstay of our people and Government was determined
to ensure that the sector occupies its rightful place in the economy with the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Phase II to complement the gains made in Phase One. He therefore called on farmers within the communities to take advantage of the ongoing farmer registration under the PFJ II to register as they stand to benefit.

On Agenda 111 hospital projects he noted that eight districts of the region were beneficiaries of these complete hospital projects of which the Pusiga District was one. He said many of these projects were at various stages of completion aimed at enhancing the healthcare delivery to the masses.

The minister announced that the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project being
implemented in 48 districts of the country of which all the 15 districts of the region were beneficiaries adding it is a 5-year World Bank funded project with a total project amount of 150 million US dollars. He described the project as a game changer for the people of the north and for that matter the Upper East Region if well implemented.

He said a total of 232 physical sub-projects and over 100 software projects on local economic development aimed at equipping women with employable skills as well as the youth are being implemented across the 15 districts of the region in 2023. Out of this number he said, ten (10) physical sub-projects and 2 software projects were being implemented in the Pusiga District with a total amount of Five Million Twenty-One Thousand Fourteen Ghana Cedis (GHS5,021,014.00) was released to the District Assembly for the implementation of the 2023 sub-projects. For the 2024, 17 sub-projects and 9 software projects were to be implemented with an amount of Eleven
Million, Eighty-Two Thousand, Three Hundred and Sixty-Six Ghana Cedis; Eleven Pesewas (GHS11,082,366.11) to
be released soon to cater for the 2024 sub-projects. He also said that 132 persons have also been employed under the SOCO project as Community Facilitators and given motor bikes
and tablets to facilitate their reports.

Source – gbcuraonline.com

He mentioned the Ghana Share Landscape and Emissions Reduction project, implemented by the Forestry Commission with the aim to restore degraded savannah forests and strengthen livelihoods in such areas through enhanced ecosystems.

He added that the Green Ghana project introduced in 2021 was also intended to boost afforestation and contribute to the global efforts to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.

“Mention can also be made of the Youth in Afforestation Project, launched in 2018 which employed over 65,000 youth to plant about 10 million tree seedlings across the country and the Ghana Productivity Safety Net, under which dams, dugouts and plantation farms are been rehabilitated and constructed,” he said.

The Minister said this in a speech read on his behalf at this year’s Fao festival of the Chiefs and people of Chiana in the Kassena-Nankana District.

The festival brought together various Paramount Chiefs within and outside the Kassena-Nankana District and Municipality, and was on the theme: “Creating awareness on climate change and environmental protection in the savannah zone: The Role of cultural festivals and community-based practices.”

To address the worsening impact of climate change and environmental degradation in communities in the Region, the Minister said as a region, there was the need to leverage on occasions like the Fao festival to sensitize community members on the need to protect the environment.

He said “Our lives are connected to the environment, and we need to adapt bold and sustainable measures as stakeholders to reduce the rate at which our environment is being depleted through indiscriminate felling of trees, bush burning, sand winding and other harmful farming practices.”

Hon. Yakubu  used the occasion to announce that the Region had received the second trench of the World Bank credit facility for the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project, which was ongoing across all 15 Municipalities and Districts in the Region, and that procurement processes would soon begin.

He urged residents in the Region to take advantage of all government policies and programmes to improve their lives.

Both Regional Executives and Parliamentary Candidates (PCs) of the two main political parties; the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), took advantage of the festival to propagate their messages and gave the assurance that given political power in the upcoming elections, they would work to improve the lives of Constituents.

By Raymond Batasia Wegwi.