President Kufour reply to our letter- BONABOTO-UK

BONABOTO-UK calls on his Excellency President John Kufour to respond to its letter of 18 April 2007 which was recorded delivered to the office of the President, Castle-Osu.

Following the reply from the British Prime Minister Tony Blair (read details on www.ghanaweb.com , 14 March and 11 April 2007), BONABOTO-UK wrote to President John Kufour to demand answers to the evidence and facts presented to BONABOTO-UK by the British Government. It is now well over a mouth since we wrote to President Kufour and have neither received an acknowledgement nor a full response to our letter.

Blow is a copy of the letter that was sent to President Kufour by BONABOTO-UK.

His Excellency
Mr John Kufour
President of the Republic of Ghana
Accra, Osu
Ghana 18 April 2007

Your Excellency Mr John Kufour,

Re: Ghana@50: The State of Northern Ghana

Following the letter BONABOTO-UK wrote to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair about discrimination and marginalisation of Northern Ghana, on the recent state visit by your Excellency to the United Kingdom (UK) and copy of which was sent to you through the Ghana High Commission in the UK; BONABOTO-UK has received two replies from the British Government, one from the Deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Prescott and the other from Mr David Triesman (The Triesman of Tottenham) of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and both letters have made interesting reading.

Firstly, both letters have expressed the British Government full appreciation of the issues raised by BONABOTO-UK about the problems that continue to affect Northern Ghana during this Jubilee year and the inequalities that remain between the North and other regions in Ghana. A direct quote from one of the letters states that, “the British Government is aware of the fact that the significant progress on poverty reduction in Ghana is not always equally distributed geographically.”

Secondly, both letters have brought to light what the British Government has done since 2003 to assist your government in addressing poverty and inequalities in Ghana. According to the British Government in their efforts to assist the Ghana Government led by your Excellency in addressing the inequalities, imbalance and poverty, which it acknowledges exist between the North and other regions in Ghana, have provided over £110 million directly to Ghana Government’s budget in support of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), through the Department for International Development (DFID) since 2003. In addition and specifically to tackle regional disparities the British Government through DFID again provided £6 million in 2006 for national distribution of 2.1 million bed nets to all under twos in Ghana. Similarly the British Government is providing £105 million through DFID over the next 10 years to the Government of Ghana to provide free and quality basic primary education for all Ghanaian children.

Thirdly, the letters from the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and Commonwealth Office also have revealed that the British Government has funded a Northern Economic Growth Study in 2006, which examined whether there was growth potential in the North and if so how to stimulate it. According to the two letters, the major conclusion from the study is that Northern Ghana has economic growth potential and that the discussion on development of the North must be based on economic growth. The British Government states that it is leading on taking this study forward by sitting on a Technical Committee, which will analyse and prepare a growth strategy for the North by November 2007.

The British Government also talked about its active membership of the Northern Donor Group and active participation in the Mole Summit, an annual meeting of the political leadership of Northern Ghana since 2003. DFID also commissioned a study on financial resource flows to the North; including analysis of resources allocation decisions in 2003. According to the British Government this report was presented at the 2004 conference or summit of the Northern Leadership Group.

In view of the issues raised by BONABOTO-UK and the response from the British Government and also to enable BONABOTO-UK, all northerners, supporters and friends of Northern Ghana living in the UK; get a fuller picture, understanding and appreciation of the efforts of the British Government in assisting your Government in addressing poverty and inequalities through the GPRS; we would humbly request that you use your good offices to provide answers to BONABOTO-UK on the following:

1. The transparent break-down of the distribution of the £110 million, region by region and district by district channelled directly to the Government’s budget to alleviate poverty through the GPRS since 2003.

2. The break-down of the £6 million for 2.1 million bed nets also region by region and district by district for all under twos in Ghana in 2006.

3. The composition of the Northern Donor Group

4. The composition of the Northern Leadership Group

5. Reports of all Mole Summits, an annual meeting of the political leadership of Northern Ghana since.2003

6. DFID Commissioned Study on the financial flows to the North of Ghana, including the analysis of resource allocation decisions (2003/2004)

7. The Northern Economic Growth Study 2006

8. The composition of the Technical Committee to analyse report on Northern Economic Growth Study (2006) and prepare a growth strategy for the North by November 2007.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

David Atugiya Secretary

Cc: British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ghana High Commission UK, MPs, BONABOTO-Ghana, The Media, Friends and Supporters of Northern Ghana.