SADA NEEDS OUR SUPPORT (SEPT 20, 2010)

President John Evans Atta Mills has given his assent to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Bill, making it a functional law.
This development will gladden the hearts of many people who are looking forward to the early implementation of SADA. It is also hoped that its implementation will help narrow the yawning development gap in the northern regions of Ghana, as well as the contiguous savannah areas of the Volta and Brong Ahafo regions, to the rest of the country.
Now that SADA has become a law, the government and its development partners are expected to commit $200 million yearly to support the ambitious programme which aims at rapidly transforming the northern part of Ghana economically and socially. The challenge for the country is how to roll over the current GH¢25 million Northern Development Fund (NDF) into the projected GH¢200 million SADA.
With commitment, unity of purpose and broad scale of support not only from Ghanaians but also from bilateral institutions, the Daily Graphic is hopeful the hurdle could be scaled over without much difficulty.
It would be recalled that a Cabinet memorandum of SADA released in 2009 committed President Mills to the accelerated development of Northern Savannah in order to promote equity in resource allocation to the poorest regions of Ghana and trigger actions for socio-economic development.
With the Presidential accent in place, the Daily Graphic believes that much efforts will be made to quicken the pace of setting up a secretariat for the Authority as soon as possible to create a competitive northern economic zone that will highlight the enormous northern agricultural potential, as well as look at the all-encompassing form of industrialisation and economic and social infrastructural development in those areas.
With the construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Project, which will ensure security of power supply needed to fuel the laudable projects being pursued, particularly the industrialisation component, SADA cannot fail to achieve its desired goals of reducing poverty in northern Ghana to 20 per cent of the population within fifteen years. Official statistics currently indicate about 80 per cent of the population is poor.
Indeed, with the two leading technical brains behind the programme, Dr Sulley Gariba, Co-ordinator of the Social and Political Unit of the project and Dr Charles Jebuni, Head of Technical Team of the SADA Implementation Committee, as some of the best brains in the country, the nation cannot accept any excuses if SADA does not meet its objectives of a revolutionary transformation of the northern part of the country.
The Daily Graphic will also like to encourage beneficiary regions to position themselves well in advance to take advantage of what SADA hopes to bring.
There is evidence that the northern Ghana is rich in minerals such as gold and iron ore. The region is also blessed with many cash crops and livestock. Land is abundant and many tourism landmarks like the Mole Game Reserve and the Paga Crocodile Pond abound. In spite of these resources, there is little or absolutely no exploitation of most of this wealth.
Northern Ghana must, therefore, not squander this opportunity to develop the region and lift itself out of the poverty web through SADA. Over the years it is regrettable that the north has squandered many opportunities to develop. Numerous conflicts in the regions have also not helped matters much. Though, the north is regarded the bread basket of the country, it has so far failed to take full advantage of the opportunities to develop.
Now that the Bill is in place, SADA must serve as a road map in tackling the myriad of problems besetting the savannah areas of the country. It is also hoped the Authority will work to correct past policy failures in the northern parts of the country, work towards a long-term strategy in addressing the developmental problems of the north, as well as facilitate sustainable development.