Civil society groups in the Upper East Region have presented a master plan developed by the then Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to former president John Dramani Mahama, who was in the Upper East Region as part of his nationwide tour dubbed “Building the Ghana we Want.”
According to the CSOs the master plan developed by SADA now known as the Northern Development Authority (NDA) accurately captures all that needs to be done to guarantee the economic transformation of Ghana’s North.
The Master plan, which was developed by then SADA, led by Dr. Charles Abugre, proposed a special economic zone in Tamale and Buipe to help promote investment with Bolgatanga set to be revitalized as a Free Trade Zone to complement the special economic zone while Wa was set to have an industrial park that can facilitate development of the Upper West Region.
The plan also captured that mining gold and tourism in the Upper East and West Regions should be consciously promoted to prevent environmental degradation.
It equally placed emphasis on the strategic development of the agricultural sector to propel development in all the regions of the now NDA operational area.
It is on this score that civil society organization based in the Upper East Region decided to present the Master plan to former president John Dramani Mahama who is soliciting the views of Ghana’s ahead of the development of the NDC’s manifesto.
Speaking Monday on State of Our Nation, the Executive Director of Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy, Bismarck Adongo Ayorogo, noted that the master plan aptly captures all that needs to be done to improve the living conditions of the people of Upper East and Northern Ghana.
“While others went out and they were only talking, we the Civil Society Organizations carried a book that a 2-year-old child won’t be able to carry because of the size and weight of the book. And this book is christened Master Plan for Development of Northern/Savannah Ecological zone and we pointed out to the former president that it was in 2016 through the former CEO of SADA (that it was drafted)” he stated.
He continued, “That Master Plan for Northern Ghana Development is a product of broad-based consultation. So all we sat and told them what we wanted to be done and we have not seen those things done. So there was no need going individually to say that ‘we want this, we want that’ when we have collectively decided that we were going to put everything together in this Northern Ghana Development blueprint”.
Bismarck Ayorogo, while expressing hope that the former president will fulfil his promises to the people of Northern Ghana if he is elected president, urged residents to hold him to his words in the event that the elections turn out in his favour.
