"Govt is biased against the North"

Wa (Upper West Region) - A leading member of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr Edward Gyader, has accused the Kufuor administration of being biased against the North.

He said while there were Presidential initiatives such as cassava, palm and others concentrated in the south, there was none in the North. Dr Gyader mentioned soya bean, guinea corn, shea nuts and cotton as crops that could be developed to improve the lot of the people but lacked support and initiative from the NPP. “The lack of an agricultural initiative in the North suggests a total neglect,” he stressed.

Dr Gyader, who is the Medical Director of the Wa Regional hospital, stated these at the Regional delegates’ conference of the party which elected him unopposed as the new chairman of a 15-member Regional Executive, to steer the affairs of the party to wrestle power in the 2004 elections.

He remarked, “President Kufuor is the President of Ghana and not a President for a section of Ghana and must be seen to be initiating even programmes for the people.”

Dr Gyader noted that there was no Cabinet Minister from the Upper West Region and the North in general. He queried why the Cabinet status of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry was removed soon after the appointment of Prof Kassanga.

The leading member said the NPP had failed Ghanaians and it was only PNC that could lead the country to prosperity and urged the people to give it the mandate. “The PNC is the party associated with the people. It is the hope of the people,” he told the delegates.

He said a PNC-led government would pursue pragmatic agricultural policies to make Ghana a self-sufficient nation.

The leading member said the construction of the Kamba dam, that would provide an irrigable land of about 9000 hectares, was the only way of alleviating poverty in the Upper West Region and not the giving out of loans of between ?100,000 and ?500,000 to rural women, who may end up not being able to pay back because it was woefully inadequate for any meaningful business.

Dr Edward Mahama, leader of the PNC, challenged the regional executive to work towards winning four more seats in addition to the Sissala constituency in election 2004.