Changing SADA board members is not enough - NPP MPs

Minority lawmakers in parliament are not in any way impressed by President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to change board members of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), saying it won’t transform the activities of the institution.

The President appointed a new board headed by corporate lawyer and former Deputy Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mrs. Angelina Mornah Domakyaareh.

Other members include Professor Mariama Awumbila of the University of Ghana, Economist Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu and Dr. Grace Bediako of the National Development Planning Commission.

Also to serve on the SADA Board are Naba Sigri Bewong, Mining Engineer and Traditional Ruler, representing the traditional authorities; Wilbert Tengey as a representative of civil society organizations, Dr. Samuel Ameyaw from the Finance Ministry and Sulley Adam, a banker.

But the minority lawmakers are calling for institutional restructuring and strengthening of systems at SADA, to check corrupt activities.

The MPs have also called for the prosecution of former board members whose actions might have resulted in the series of corrupt activities that characterized the authority’s works.

Ranking member on parliament’s committee on agriculture and cocoa affairs, Dr. Akoto Owusu Afriyie, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, told XYZ News “Just changing personnel will not make much difference to the way SADA has been managed up to now”.

Meanwhile, a youth group in the northern region, the Northern Youth for Peace and Development has commended the President for changing the members on the board of SADA.

The group is hopeful this move will inject a new confidence in the program among residents in that part of Ghana.

The director of the group, Prince Hardy Adams, however, told XYZ News he will mobilize the youth to protest if the previous board members are not prosecuted for how they managed the program during their tenure.