Kufuor
tours Upper East & Upper West
10 – 10 – 2002: - President
Kufuor arrives
10 – 10 – 2002: - We aim to develop-President
Kufuor
10 – 10 – 2002: - Kufuor
commissions Sandema Phone Link
10 – 10 –
2002: - Don’t misapply HIPC funds
10 – 10 – 2002: - Kufuor: tell critics I’m above partisan politics
08 – 10 – 2002: - President Kufuor arrives in Wa for three-day visit
08 – 10 – 2002: - President Kufuor tours the Upper East and West Regions
Paga (Upper East) 10 October 2002- President
John Agyekum Kufuor has arrived at Paga in the Kassena-Nankana District from Wa
to begin a three-day official visit of the Upper East Region.
He paid a courtesy call on the Paga Pio, Pe
Charles Awiah Awampaga the second at his palace. He also called on the
Sandem-Nab, Ayieta Azantilow, Paramount Chief of the Builsa Traditional Area,
at Sandema.
On Thursday, the President will pay similar
courtesy calls on the Bolga-Naba Martin Abilba III, and the Bawku Naba, Asigri
Abugrago Azoka II. He will address two separate durbars at Bawku and Navrongo,
after which he would tour the Tono Irrigation Project near Navrongo.
On the last lap of his visit on Friday,
President Kufuor is scheduled to undertake familiarisation tours of the
Zuarungu Meat Factory, the Pwalugu Tomato Factory and the Upper Quarry, before
addressing a grand durbar of chiefs and people of the Bolgatanga Traditional
Area.
Among the President's entourage are Mr Kwadwo
Baah Wiredu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Moses Dani
Baa, Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. R.W. Anane, Minister of Roads and
Transport, and Dr. Haroun Majeed, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture.
Others are Professor Christopher Ameyaw
Akumfi, Minister of Education, Dr. Agambilla Agesika, Deputy Minister of
Finance, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Presidential spokesperson and Ms Elizabeth Ohene,
Minister of State at the Office of the President.
GRi…/
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Paga (Upper East) 10 October 2002- President
John Agyekum Kufuor has said that the government would not be petty,
discriminatory, or partisan in the provision of development projects in the
country.
"What is in the national coffers belongs
to all Ghanaians and should be used as such," he said in a speech during a
courtesy call on the Paga Pio, Charles Awiah Awampaga II, at Paga.
President Kufuor who is on a three-day
official visit of the Upper East Region, assured Ghanaians that government
would not rest on its oars in its efforts to tackle the problem of poverty
among the people.
He announced that a good senior secondary
school (SSS) comparable to the well-endowed ones in the South would be established
for the people of the Paga area, who presently have to send their children to
Navrongo for senior secondary school education.
President Kufuor said government was giving
serious consideration to the development of tourism infrastructure in the Paga
area, to provide job opportunities for the people. In response to a request by
the Paga Pio for a separate district, the President said the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development was taking a critical look at similar requests
from various areas and that additional districts would be created in those
areas that met the required criteria.
Other concerns raised by the Paga Pio in his
welcoming address included the upgrading of the Paga Health Centre to a
hospital status, the creation of an additional constituency for the area, and
the opening of an inland port market at Paga to boost trade with neighbouring
countries.
Mr Mahami Salifu, Upper East Regional
Minister, explained that the President's visit was, among other things, to
accord him the opportunity to thank the chiefs and people of the region for
their massive support during the 2000 elections.
GRi…/
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Sandema (Upper East) 10 October 2002-
President John Agyekum Kufuor has commissioned a newly installed telephone link
at Sandema in the Builsa District. The ceremony took place at the forecourt of
the chief's palace, and formally marked the arrival of radiotelephone
communication in the Builsa area.
President Kufuor said the development of the
country's rural communities was one of government's priority concerns and
expressed the hope that the extension of telephone facilities would provide a
catalyst for socio-economic development in the district.
The President, who arrived at Sandema as part
of a three-day official tour of the Upper East Region, also announced
government's intention to exploit the full agricultural potential of the
Fumbisi Valleys and to make the area the nation's granary.
He announced that the Sandema-Fumbisi road
had already been given out on contract and that when completed; it could open
up the Builsa District for further development. Mr M.J. Awudu, Regional Head of
the Ghana Telecom, explained that the Sandema telephone project entailed the
extension of 60 lines from Bolgatanga to the area.
"So far, 30 lines have been provided and
we aim at completing the whole exercise by the end of this year," he
added. He was, however, not able to give the cost of the project. Earlier in a
welcoming speech read for him, the Sandem-Nab, Ayieta Azantillow, appealed to
government to help promote large-scale rice cultivation and livestock development
in the Builsa area, particularly the Fumbisi Valley.
The Sandem-Nab said it was his intention to
elevate all divisional chiefs in the traditional area to paramount status and
solicited government's approval. He also urged government to help find a
solution to the chieftaincy problem at Chuchuliga near Sandema, saying the
problem had the potential to destabilise the hitherto peaceful atmosphere at
Builsa.
GRi…/
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Sissala
(Upper West) 09 October 2002 - President J. A. Kufuor has warned that the
government will not hesitate to deal with any district chief executive or
assembly member who misapplies monies being disbursed from the HIPC Fund to
reduce poverty at the local level.
He, therefore, requested chiefs and the people in the various districts to be
vigilant and demand accountability and ensure that the HIPC funds do not end up
in the pockets of individuals.
President Kufuor gave the warning when he inaugurated a rural electrification
project at Gwollu for farming communities in the Sissala District on Monday as
part of his three-day visit to the Upper West Region.
Last August the government announced the release of ¢117 billion from savings
after the adoption of the HIPC initiative for disbursement to the 110 districts
in the country for the alleviation of poverty. President Kufuor said it is the
responsibility of chiefs and people to ensure that the HIPC funds are used
judiciously for the purpose it is intended.
He warned that if anyone is found to have misapplied the money, the government
will ensure that the law takes its course. President Kufuor dismissed the
criticism that the HIPC funds have not been distributed fairly and said a
critical analysis of the disbursement of the funds indicates that the
government has not discriminated against any particular region.
He mentioned, for example, that a total of ¢5 billion is being released to the
five districts in the region with a population of 600,000 as against ¢3.5
billion to
Responding to some of the concerns of the Gwollu people, President Kufuor said
the government will encourage the production of cotton in the Sissala District
to provide the needed raw materials for the textile industry which has been
adopted as one of the President’s Special Initiatives.
He said the government is also taking steps to construct dams in the Upper West
Region to increase agricultural production. President Kufuor said even though
the problems confronting the nation are numerous, with unity of purpose,
Ghanaians will overcome them.
In response to a request by the Kuoro of Gwollu, Buktie Limann, the President
indicated the government’s intention to construct a new market in memory of the
late President, Dr Hilla Limman. The President later visited the burial place
of the late President.
Addressing a well-attended durbar at Tumu, President Kufuor assured the people
that the government will not disappoint them. He said he would like the people
to remember his government in history as the one, which was elected to serve
their needs.
President Kufuor explained the rationale behind the government’s adoption of
the HIPC Initiative and said but for that, the government would have paid debts
with a substantial amount of the nation’s resources which are now being
disbursed for development in the rural areas. A minutes silence was observed in
memory of the district chief executive, Madam Florence Bentie Yeyie who lost
her life in an accident at Suhum in the Eastern Region this year. – Daily
Graphic
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“I will
come as and when the pressures that entangle me ease,” the President stated.
President Kufuor said this when he addressed the chiefs and people of the
Sissala Tradition Area at Tumu as part of a three-day tour of the Upper West
Region since he assumed the seat of government on 7th January 2001.
“Hear the
President loud and clear. Tell my critics that President Kufuor is a President
who cares and lives above party politics”. “Whether Kufuor comes or not he is
working and thinks of you”, he told enthusiastic crowd that defied a down pour
to receive him.
The President urged the people to examine
statements of politicians critically and distinquished between the truth and
lies and “never to take wholesale what they are being told”.
On efforts
to improve the lives of the people, this was what the President had for the
people: “ My government will serve the people of Tumu as best it can so that
the people will remember the government as the best”.
President
Kufuor said under the decentralization programme, every district would get its
share of development. He said it was the policy of the government to tar 14
miles of a major trunk road in each region every year.
The over
all objective of the policy, he said, was to link each regional capital to
other regions with a tarred road. The Minister of Local Governemnt and Rural
Development, Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu announced that a District Chief Executive
would soon be nominated for the consideration of the assembly soon.
He said
between January last and June this year, a total of ¢ 108 million was released
to the Siassala District for poverty alleviation initiatives. Mr Wiredu said
the fourth quarter of the Assembly Common Fund was being released for the
assembly to improve the purse development programmes that would improve the lot
of the people.
The Upper
West Region Minister, Mr Mogtari Shanum, said through its share of the common
fund, the assembly was able to provide electricity, constructed schools at
Kunkogu, Wasai and Chinchang and a teacher’s quarters at Wuuru to enhance
effective teaching and learning.
The Tumu Ko
Kuoro Badzoe Kanton IV said as a result of the pragmatic policies of the
government, the generality of his people were now basking in a fresh wind of
positive change, the rules of law and genuine democracy. He appealed to the
government to construct more dams in the area to make farming an all year round
activity to boost food production. - The Evening News
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President
Kufuor arrives in Wa for three-day visit
Wa (Upper West) 08 October 2002- President
John Agyekum Kufour arrived at Wa on Monday morning to begin a three-day tour
of the Upper West region. This is his first visit to the region since he was
elected as head of state.
He was met on arrival at the Wa air-strip by
a large crowd of people including government officials and NPP supporters who
converged there as early as six oclock in the morning and entertained
themselves to drumming and dancing until the President's aircraft touched down
at
Those who could not make the two-kilometre
journey to the air strip, including school children, lined the street thumbing
the "asee ho'' slogan as the presidential convoy passed by them. During
the tour, President Kufour would address durbars of chiefs and people at all
the five district capitals in the region. He would also commission electricity
projects at Gwollu in the Sissala district, Lawra and Jirapa.
He is accompanied by Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister
of Local Government and Rural Development and Miss Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of
State at the Presidential Affairs. The others are, Dr Abdul-Mageed Haroun,
Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Moses Dani Baah Deputy Minister of
Health and Mr Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Mines.
GRi…/
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President
Kufuor tours the Upper East and West Regions
Wa (Upper West)
He will address a durbar of chiefs and people
at Tumu later in the day. President Kufuor would go to Jirapa on Tuesday to
inspect development projects, address a durbar of chiefs and people and proceed
to Wa. He ends his tour of the Upper West Region with a durbar of chiefs and
people at Lawra on Wednesday before he continues to Paga in the Upper East
Region.
He would call on the Paga Pio, visit Sandema
later, address a durbar of chiefs and people and call on the Sandema Naaba. On
Thursday, President Kufuor will call on the Bolga Naaba, interact with the
people and proceed to Bawku to address a durbar of chiefs and people.
He will also visit the Bawku technical
institute. The president will again visit the Tono Irrigation Project and
address a durbar of the chiefs and people of the area. On Friday, President
Kufuor will visit the meat factory, tomato factory at Pawlugu and the Upper
quarry before addressing a durbar of chiefs and people at Bolgatanga.
President Kufuor returns to
GRi…/
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