Ag Northern Regional Minister, Mr. E. A. Debrah briefs the Media on the Region

MR. CHAIRMAN,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS,

I send you warm felicitations from the north.

Today is my turn to brief the press and the good people of this country on the good things happening in the Northern Region, and I am very thankful for this unique opportunity.

My presentation will highlight the following:

? Regional profile
? Economic Potentials
? Factors Impeding Regional Efforts at Development
? Government Efforts to Address Impeding Factors
? Investment Potentials

2.0 Regional profile:
2.1 Geographical:
The Northern Region covers an area of 70,000 km square making it the largest region, in terms of landmass, in Ghana.
It occupies about 30% of the total land area of the country.

The Region shares borders with the Republic of La Cote d’Ivoire to the West, Republic of Togo to the East, Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions to the South, and Upper East and Upper West Regions to the North-East and North-West respectively.

The land is mostly flat with gentle undulating low relief between 12m - 18m above sea level, with few exceptions such as the Gambaga Scarp.

The vegetation cover is Guinea Savanna with grasses interspersed with short trees. The vegetation is however dense in the south but thins out northwards.

Rainfall is seasonal, with much of the rain falling between May and October.

The region’s soils are classified into four main groups most of which are suitable for crop production
? Deep medium and heavy alluvial soils
? Moderately deep and light alluvial soils
? Moderately deep and well drained soils
? Moderately deep, well-drained and concretized soils

2.2 Political:
? The region has a population of 1,820,806 (2000 Population and Housing Census), which represents about 9.8% of the country’s total population. It has a growth rate of 2.7%, which is above the national average of 2.6%.

The population is predominantly rural i.e. 74.5% of the total population live in communities of less than 200 people.
Almost 95% of all settlements in the region contain fewer than 500 people.



Population density varies from some of the least densely populated areas such as West Gonja with a density of 4 persons per sq. km to over 70 persons per sq. km. in the Savelugu-Nanton area, which is far above the national average. The average population density in the region is about 26 person per sq km..

The Region is divided into 13 Administrative Districts with Tamale as the Regional capital. Long distances separate the district capitals from each other and from the Regional Capital.

The region has 23 parliamentary constituencies.

It may be pertinent to note that there are more than 15 ethnic groupings in the region. There are, however, four paramountcies, which represent the four major ethnic groups of Dagomba, Gonja, Mamprusi, and Nanumba.

2.3 Economic:
The region’s economy is largely agrarian. Food crop and livestock farming is the mainstay of almost the entire population of the region.
A small section of the population is engaged in petty trading, light manufacturing, and small scale agro-processing.


3.0 ECONOMIC POTENTIALS:
The region is endowed with enormous potential for economic development in the following areas:
3.1 Agriculture:
Agriculture undoubtedly offers the region its greatest advantage. Over 70% of the population is engaged in agriculture. The region has about 7 million hectares of flat arable land with 70% of this available for agriculture.

The major crops grown in the region are maize, millet, sorghum, cotton, yam, groundnuts, beans, cassava and cashew.

Livestock produced in the region are cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry.

3.2 Manufacturing:
Having regard to the huge agricultural potential of the region there is an enormous potential for agro-based industries.

3.3 Tourism:
The region, in terms of tourism, sees itself as part of the country’s wide tourism market. The region has a wide range of tourist attractions, which include; the Mole and Bui National parks, the Salaga slave market, traditional festivals, the Laribanga mosque, the mystic stone etc. There is therefore great potentials for investors in the tourism sector

3.4 Mining:
The region though not a major mineral producer has a number of mineral deposits notable among them are iron ore, gold, granite, clay and lime.
West Gonja and West Mamprusi district assemblies have received offers for the prospecting of gold in their districts.


*Gold has been found in commercial quantities in the Bole District.

4.0 FACTORS IMPEDING REGIONAL EFFORTS AT
DEVELOPMENT:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press,
You may wonder why the Northern Region is one of the poorest regions in the country in spite of the enormous potentials enumerated above.

The region’s efforts to forge ahead with its development agenda and improve the living conditions of its people, have been thwarted by the following.
? Insecurity arising out of land, ethnic, religious, or chieftaincy conflicts
? Poor infrastructure
? Inadequate social services and
? Low literacy rate

4.1 Conflicts and Insecurity:

The greatest challenge to our development efforts is the instability and insecurity caused by the many conflicts in the Region. These conflicts, which many times turn violent, arise out of chieftaincy, religious, ethnic, and land issues and often result in the following:
? Loss of life and property
? Insecurity leading to the curtailment of economic activity
? Social in cohesion that affects economic development
? Internal displacement of people
? Scares and drives away investors
? Drains the regional and national resources.
Many of you are only aware of the most recent crisis at Yendi but there had been several others which have equally been devastating and tragic.
A few examples may suffice.
1979 Gonja – Vagla
1981 Konkomba – Nanumba
1994 Konkomba – Dagomba/Gonja
All these conflicts left in their trail many dead, wounded or displaced amidst long remembered bitterness.

In 2002 alone, within the same month, the following four serious conflicts were recorded in the region.

Date Conflict District Type
March, 2002 Kpabuso-Mpaha West Gonja Religious
March, 2002 Bimbago East Mamprusi Ethnic
March, 2002 Bimbila Nanumba Chieftaincy
March,2002 Yendi Yendi Chieftaincy

Currently the only major crisis yet to be resolved in the region is the Yendi crisis. The Bimbilla crisis has been contained and security personnel have been deployed there to ensure law and order. I shall not bore you with details of the Yendi crisis since a lot has already been heard and read about it. The Wuaku Comission has presented its report to the Government and I think we should all patiently wait for the outcome. Meanwhile the Otumfuo Mediation Committee is also working quietly to reconcile the two factions.
I have personally been touring the Dagbon Traditional Area, holding durbars with the chiefs and people of the area and stressing the importance of peace and unity to development. I have also had discussions with some youth groups and opinion leaders on the way forward in resolving the crises.
The Regional Co-ordinating Council has recently acquired air space on Radio Savana to constantly send peace messages to the public through NGOs and other peace loving organizations. The conflict has been contained and I am optimistic that the conflict will return to the area in the not too distant future.
It is quite significant to note that almost all the conflicts, be they religious, ethnic or chieftaincy, have always taken place between the months of January and June. This is the long dry season in the north when there are virtually no farming activities, as the farmers grow mainly seasonal crops.

The low literacy rate in the region, coupled with the long period of non -economic activity, make a majority of the people gullible to any misinformation. These together with ineffective policing may be the major causes of conflicts in the region.

5.0 INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT:
It is the objective of government to create an enabling climate for wealth generation. To achieve this objective the country must be opened up through good road and telecommunication networks. Since January 2001 the government in collaboration with its development partners has taken measures to improve the road and telecommunication network in the Region.

5.1 Road Network:
The region’s road network consist of highways, feeder roads and urban roads. Villages and small towns are linked by feeder roads while large towns and district capitals are linked by highways. Urban roads are limited to municipalities, cities and towns.

5.2 Highways:
Northern Region has 2,225km of highways representing about 16.6% of the national total and the largest network of highways in the country. Out of this however 1402km or about 63% was in poor state as at January 2001.

From January 2001 to date ?73.3 billion has been spent on periodic maintenance on Bamboil-Bole, Nakpanduri, Chereponi-Sakpiegu roads as well as the Mole bridge.

?4.8 billion has been spent within the same period on routine maintenance.

In sum an amount of ?78.1 billion has been spent on maintenance of highways from 2001 to date.

In addition tendering process has almost been completed for the award of contracts for the regravelling and rehabilitation of the Fufulso Junction-Sawla road (142km) and Tamale-Yendi road (43km) at a total estimated cost of ?54.5 billion.

5.3 Feeder Roads:
The total length of identifiable feeder roads as at January 2001 was 5,920.78km out of which 1550.58km (27%) was maintainable and 4,370km (73%) non-maintenable.

Since January 2001, 160 feeder roads spanning a total length of 3825km (64% of Feeder Roads) have been awarded on contract for reshaping, regravelling, rehabilitation and spot improvement works at a total cost of around ?95.0 billion. In addition 24 other roads have been processed for award before December 2002 at a total cost of ?5.5 billion.

In summary therefore, since coming to power the Government together with its development partners have spent about ?173 billion and earmarked a further ?40 billion on roads in the Northern Region before the end of the year.

5.4 Status of Telecom Network:
The importance of telecommunications in a region with scattered settlements like ours cannot be overlooked. Government has therefore made strenuous efforts to shorten the distances through telecommunication. The following improvements have been made since December 2000.
Town Installed Lines as at 2000 Installed Lines as at Jn. 2002 Additional Lines after 2000
1 TamalePayphones 4,00090 4,800168 80078
2 Damongo 75 112 37
3 Bole 60 112 52
4 Walewale 43 112 69
5 Salaga 70 112 42
6 Yendi 46 160 114
7 Gambaga 7 12 5



Bimbilla, Kpandai, Wulensi and Zabzugu have been connected from Tamale on Radio Link.

In addition Spacefom, Mobitel and Ghana Telecom Cell phone facilities have been extended to Tamale.

5.5 WATER
Water which is so vital for human existence is quite scarce in the Northern Region. The region’s topography and long dry season do not support perennial rivers. Most of the streams and rivers are seasonal, water is therefore a very scarce commodity during the dry season. The non availability of potable water in a lot of communities accounts for the incidence of guinea worm in several districts.

Supply of potable water to Yendi, Damongo and Tamale is catered for by Ghana Water Company Limited. The installed capacity of water to Yendi and Damongo is inadequate to meet the demands of the people. Water is therefore pumped between 6 – 8 hours daily.

Supply of water to the rural communities is mainly through Community Water and Sanitation Agency in collaboration with a number of NGOs some of which are CIDA, EU, AFD and UNICEF.

The daily demand for water in Tamale is far above the daily production of 4.3 million gallons. Consequently Tamale is on a rationing system. Studies for an expansion of the system are completed and negotiations for a Japanese

Government funding is on going. The cost of the expansion is estimated at ?43.0 million.

Since 2001 through the interventions of the NGOs in collaboration with CWSA about 620 boreholes and 715 hand dug wells have been sunk at a total cost of approximately ?30.9 billion.


5.6 ELECTRICITY
? Currently all the 13 district capitals have been connected to the national grid. In addition to these most of the major settlements along the main line of the national grid have been hooked to it. These include, Buipe, Yapei, Nasia, Pong Tamale, Karaga , Chamba, Bunjai, Laribanga, Sawla etc Credit to our predecessors..

? The Regional Co-ordinating Council in collaboration with District Assemblies is putting pressure to ensure that all villages earmarked for the supply of electricity through the Self-Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) are connected. The DAs have committed part of the funds under HIPC to the purchasing of low-tension poles to that effect.








6.0 SOCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT:


6.1 Education:

? Low Literacy rate is one of the main problems responsible for the slow development of the Northern Region.
? The low literacy rate is due to the following among others:
- Low School enrolment
- Poor educational infrastructure
- Inadequate staffing
- Poor parental interest in the education of their wards
- Inadequate furniture
- Poor supervision and management.

6.1.2 Statistics of Basic Schools Enrolment -Northern Region (2001):
Level No. of Schools Enrolment
M F Total
Nursery School 445 25,567 25,158 50,725
Primary School 1,465 28,252 96,852 225,104
J.S.S. 319 29,888 15,873 45,761
S.S.S. 32 13,166 5,380 18,546

Recent figures released by the Population Office indicate that the Northern Region has 587,849 children between the ages 1-9 years. The above statistics reveals that the Region has 47% of children of school going age actually in school.










6.1.3 Pupil-Teacher Ratio:

The table below clearly indicates that the pupil teacher ration in Northern Region is above the national figure.


2000 2001 National
Nursery/Kindergarten = 46 : 1 59:1
Primary Schools = 36 : 1 45:1 33:1
Junior Secondary School = 19 : 1 22:1 20:1

To address the low literacy rate, the following measures have been taken since January 2001:

6.1.4 Classroom Blocks:
The District Assemblies and some NGOs, particularly The European Union, have provided 107 new classroom blocks and rehabilitated 17 classroom blocks at a total cost of about ?13.0 billion

Under the Education Sector Support Programme under which two districts from the Northern Region are to benefit, 73 classroom blocks are to be constructed for the Tolon/Kumbungu and Nanumba Districts. Pre-contract services are in progress and construction will begin by the end of the year.
Additionally the region is to be provided with 52 classroom blocks under the G.E.T. Fund.

6.1.5 Low Enrolment:
The scattered nature of the settlements - 75% of the communities have less than 200 inhabitants which makes it difficult to bring schools closer to all the
communities. Children therefore have to walk long distances to school. This negatively affects enrolment. The Ministry of Education will have to find ingenious ways of addressing this issue. It is however interesting to note that even in the large urban centres enrolment is also low. The elite from the region, those of us who have had the benefit of higher education, MPs, Opinion leaders, should all come together and compliment the efforts of Government by sensitising our brothers and sisters back home to see education as an investment.

6.1.6 Inadequate Staffing:
Though this is a country-wide problem, the situation in the north is aggravated by serious accommodation problems. Most houses in the rural communities are owner occupied. Accommodation is therefore difficult to come by. Teachers therefore tend to live in big towns and commute daily to the satellite schools. The problem is worsened by lack of transportation
The accommodation and transport issue is a big disincentive to teachers in the region.

Though the District Assemblies and some NGOs continue to assist by providing accommodation for teachers their efforts are just like a drop in an ocean. This I think is more of a national than a regional problem, since it is mainly through education that poverty in the north can be reduced.

6.1.7 Tertiary Education:
The Tamale Polytechnic and the University for Development Studies (UDS) are the two tertiary institutions in the region. The UDS is an infant University and therefore has a number of teething problems notable among
them is infrastructure. It is a unique institution since its programme is based on “learning by doing”. The government is determined to build this university to an internationally accepted level. The government has provided ?17.5 billion this year from the GET fund for infrastructural and logistical support to UDS. Similarly the Tamale Polytechnic has been given an amount of ?3.5 billion for the general improvement of the institution.

6.2 HEALTH:
A healthy population is an asset to national development. In this
regard the Northern Regional Directorate of Health Services has
been working in collaboration with the Regional Coordinating Council
and other partners to achieve an improved health status for the
inhabitants of the region.

6.2.1 Health Infrastructure:
This has increased remarkably over the past ten years from about 70 in 1994 to 133 at the close of 2001. In year 2000 only 7 of the region’s 13 districts had hospitals. Walewale, Saboba, Oti River and Tamale West Health Centers have recently been upgraded to hospitals.

Work on Bimbilla hospital which began in 2001 is progressing steadily. So far an amount of ?7 billion has been spent on the Bimbilla hospital while works on the following are in progress:

- Construction of Health Centre at Mpaha at a cost of ?536,814,790.00

- Construction of Health Centre at Abroase at a cost of ?536,814,790.00


Table below shows total health facilities in the region:
TYPE 2000 2002
HospitalHealth Centres and Clinics 7125 10124
TOTAL 132 134

6.2.2 Manpower Level:
Though health facilities in the region are inadequate to totally meet the health needs of the people the greatest constraint to health delivery service in the Region is inadequate numbers of skilled health personnel. The table below amply demonstrates this.

STAFF ESTABLISHMENT NO AT POST SHORTFALL
CATEGORY 2000 2001 2002
1. Doctors 85 33 31 28 57
2. Nurses* 1.239 716 730 732(+85) 422
3. Pharmacists 26 4 6 8 18
4. LaboratoryTechnologists &Technicians 59 Nil Nil 10 49

* An additional 85 nurses are in training.

6.2.3 Addressing Manpower Shortage:
? A first batch of 18 Cuban doctors have been posted to the region
in October this year. A second batch of 11 Cuban doctors are
expected this November in the Region.

? Intake into the two nursing training institutions in the Region has
been increased considerably so as to turn out more nurses. Intake

into the Tamale NTC has increased from 40 to 80. And
that for the Community Health Nurses Training School has also
gone up from 68 in 2001 to 100 in 2002.

? Training of auxiliaries: Training of 50 Health Aides was started
in the Region in August this year. Training of Medical
Laboratory Assistants is scheduled to start this November.

? In addition the District Assemblies have been directed to sponsor
health personnel during training under bond to serve the district
on completion of their courses

6.2.4 HIV/AIDS:
The region has not been spared by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Reports from two sentinel surveillance sites puts the prevalence rate among women attending antenatal clinics at 1.0% in 2000 and 1.4% in 2001.

Among blood donors the prevalence rate was 1.1% in 2001. Even though in comparison to other regions this is low, there is no room for complacency. It is on record that awareness is almost universal but translating this to attitudinal change is still poor. The Regional Health Service is working closely with the Regional HIV/AIDS Committee and NGOs to step up HIV/AIDS education campaign.

6.2.5 Guinea Worm Disease:
Since the inception of the Guinea Worm eradication programme in 1989, the region has recorded more cases than any other region in Ghana. At the close

of 2001, the region reported 2,929 (62% of Ghana’s total) and is reportedly the most endemic spot globally outside of Sudan. Among the many challenges facing our eradication efforts are the negative attitudes towards preventive measures, dispersed nature of the settlements, low potable water supply and poverty. To address the guinea worm problem the Government in collaboration with NGOs have embarked on a programme of providing potable water to the rural communities as said earlier. We shall see a significant reduction in guinea worm infestation by the end of year 2005.

6.2.6 Major Achievements in the Health Sector - 2001/2002:
? Rehabilitation of Yendi Hospital completed: Equipped and
vehicles & ambulance provided (Africa Development Bank)

?` Walewale (World Bank ), Oti River and Saboba Health Centres
upgraded to district hospitals.
? Construction of Bimbilla Hospital Started (OPEC Fund)
? Two new clinics opened in 2001 at Blajai in East Gonja District
(Assembly of God) and Zinnindow in Gushegu-Karaga District
(Community-Initiated).
? Construction of two new Health Centres started a Mpaha & Abromase (OPEC Fund).

? Supply of basic equipment to Health Centres to enhance services under agreement with Prime II, UNICEF, UNFPA; more expected.

? 4 x 4 vehicle & Ambulance for Walewale Hospital & Salaga Hospitals respectively (UNFPA).


6.3 AGRICULTURE:
Agriculture is the main activity in the region, which employs over 75% of the working population. The agricultural activities include:
? Crop and livestock production
? Fishing, agro-forestry and Agro-processing

6.3.1 Main Crops:
Maize, soybeans, yam, cassava, cashew, cotton, groundnuts, rice, cowpea, sorghum, millet. Vegetables grown include tomato, okro, pepper, and garden eggs.

The major constraints to agriculture in the Northern Region are
- inadequate financial support
- unreliable weather
- Low literacy rate
- Poorly developed or absence of infrastructure
- High post harvest loses
- Poor extension services

From 2001 to date a lot has been put in road development, this has opened up the region to the benefit of farmers.

The Government and its development partners including NGOs and the District Assemblies have constructed a number of dug-outs and dams to promote agriculture.


Through the poverty alleviation fund and funds provided for women in agriculture by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs a good number of farmers were able to obtain credits for farming.

The sum total of these interventions by Government and its development partners has led to a projected increase in the production of food crops in the region this year as shown in the table below:

6.3.2 Production (000’Metric tons) of major staple crops

2002 2001 2000

Maize 96 70 78
Rice 86 63 73
Sorghum 73 53 72
Millet 52 40 50
Groundnuts 62 43 40
Cowpea 47 36 40
Soya beans 31 15 14
Yam 700 620 518
Cassava 504 382 211

7.0 INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
The Northern Region because of its characteristics possesses certain unique potential for growth and development. It is these characteristics that will facilitate the growth of private investment in the region. These include
? Agricultural and natural resources
? Good road transport system from the south


? A fast-growing metropolis.

Given the potentials of the Region and the Government economic policies the following are the key areas of investment in the Region.
? Agriculture
? Agro based industries
? Manufacturing industries
? Mining
? Tourism

7.1 Agriculture:
Agriculture and its related sector Agro-based Processing Industry continue to offer the greatest opportunities for investment.
There are opportunities for investment in the following areas for which the Region has comparative advantage. (Soil, land, climate, labour resources).
a) Cereals
b) Industrial Crops - cotton, shea nuts, cashew nuts
c) Roots and Tubers
d) Legumes
e) Livestock

7.2 Mining:
Though the region is not a known mineral producer a number of mineral deposits have been discovered in the region.
There have been recent attempts at further prospecting and exploitation of some of these minerals classified into the following groups)

a. Minerals for the building industry
b. Industrial minerals,
c. Precious minerals

? The major building industry minerals found in the region are Lime,
Granite and clay. Lime deposit at Buipe is estimated at 10 million 37
metric tons. These deposits call for investment

7.3 Iron Ore:
? Iron ore deposits are found in the range of hills in the Shieni-Tatale area. Total reserves are estimated at 1,270 million metric tones with iron content between 30-45%. In the past due to its grade, and distance of the deposit from the coast, the deposit was considered uneconomic. With the creation of the Volta Lake Transport System, and the improvement in iron smelting technology, the exploitation of the deposit could be a viable commercial venture.

7.4 Gold
? Of late there have been several effort at prospecting for gold in the Region. Bole, Damongo and west Mamprusi Districts have received offers for prospecting for gold in their various areas. These areas share the Birimian geological formation noted for gold deposits that stretches from the southwestern corner to the northwestern sector of the country.

7.5 Tourism:
? The tourist sector has been identified as a key sector for the growth of the national economy.


The Region has a wide range of tourist attractions which include the:
? Mole Game Reserve/Bui Park
? Historical sites and attractions
? Cultural heritage

There is an opportunity for investors in the tourism industry.

8.0 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
The Northern Region is undergoing rapid environmental degradation due to bad land management practices such as over grazing, indiscriminate felling of trees, bush burning and invasion of alien herdsmen.

Apathy, ignorance and the inability to enforce laws account for this sad state of affairs.

The Regional Co-ordinating Council in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency has adopted a number of measures to address the problem of environmental degradation as follows:

1- The establishment of the Regional Environmental Management Committee, which meets quarterly to consider serious environmental issues and advises the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).
2- District Environmental Management Committees now exist in all the 13 Districts which also advise the District Assemblies on environmental issues. Some District Assemblies now have environmental task officers for handling Environmental issues.

In all, since 2001, the EPA alone has undertaken Environmental awareness campaign in 55 first and second cycle schools and 57 communities in the Region.

This year, under the forestry plantation development initiative by the Government, the forestry department supplied seedlings and planted over 714 hectares of trees.

The breakdown include the following: Yendi District 20 ha., Gushegu-Karaga 12 ha, Bimbilla 250 ha, West Mamprusi 64 ha, West Gonja 95 ha. and Bole 168 ha. The Savanna Resource Management Project also assisted 3 districts to plant 50 ha on-reserves and 40 ha off-reserve this year alone.

Through another afforestation programme promoted by the Ministry of Environment and Science and implemented by the EPA in schools over 3500 assorted tree seedlings were planted in school compounds and around schools to demarcate school land and serve as wind breaks and school beautification. Some of the schools are Pong-Tamale SSS, Savelugu SSS, Presby JSS, Tamale SDA JSS and Primary.

Bushfire:
Overall destruction to human life and property by bushfires is on the decline as compared to the early 90’s.

Bushfires continue to destroy the environment and threaten human lives and property. It appears the enforcement of the bushfire law 229 is a problem.

Chiefs, Tindanas, elders and the Assemblies are being requested to assist in the enforcement of the law and to arrest perpetrators.

Fire Volunteers squads are being retrained to assist, educate, patrol and lead their communities to control bushfires. The volunteers have not been very successful due to the vastness of the region and the scattered nature of the settlements. The measures are however a good beginning and we hope to build on it.

9.0 IVORIAN SITUATION
About 216 refugees from the Ivorian crisis have camped at a market site at Bole. The District Assembly and NADMO have so far contained the situation by providing basic needs. But as the situation is still volatile there was the need to go beyond these two organizations and bring UNHCR into the picture before a crisis situation arises. UNHCR has accordingly been informed and they have visited Bole to assess the situation on the ground.

10.0 GOOD GOVERNANCE:
Policing coupled with a good judiciary system is the principal ingredient of good governance. In the Northern Region with an area of 70,000 Sq.km, there are only 7 Police Districts and 28 Police Stations with a total number of 622 personnel. With a total population of 1.8 million, the Police – population ratio is 1:2,857 or1:111 sq. km. in relation to the land area. The situation could contribute to the tensions and insecurity in the region, as the police personnel are simply over numbered, over stretched and may be overwhelmed especially in times of conflict. It may also be mentioned that like in the case of the Police, the judiciary seems to be present only in


Tamale, the regional capital. The High Court, the Regional Tribunal and the Circuit Court are the only ones operating in the region while courts in the districts are practically non-existent mainly because there are no magistrates/judges and other judicial personnel.
Though it is not possible within the short term to increase the number of personnel, the NPP Government has shown ample commitment to address the constraints to good local governance.

When we took over, the region had only 7 vehicles located at Tamale with none in the districts. Now all the districts except Bimbilla have at least one vehicle each. Two police stations are soon to open in the East Mamprusi District. With the recruitment of more lawyers, the Districts are providing residential accommodation to house the District Magistrates to enhance access to the courts, a very important aspect of good governance.

11.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I will like to say that the Northern Region is richly endowed with the natural resources that should make it one of the richest regions in the country. Indeed the region has the capacity to be the breadbasket of the nation. To be able to manifest itself in this direction however, two significant conditions must exist.

a. There must be a determined and sustained government effort to create the right investment climate for a massive movement of resources to the region for investment in agriculture: maize, rice, soyabean and cashew on very large commercial acreages significant enough to generate massive employment, justify establishment of local industry and provide foreign exchange for the country.

b. For the above to happen however, peace is a sine qua non. We ourselves from the Region need to realize that we are sitting on gold and that this opportunity can only be exploited to our benefit only in an environment of peace. We should learn to dialogue and to rely on the country’s legal and judicial system to resolve issues rather than resort to violence. The way forward is peace and massive investment. I will therefore want to use this forum to appeal to the elite from the two factions in the Dagbon State to reexamine their positions and roles and see whether they cannot let go their egos and contribute to peace in the wider interest of Dagbon. The people of Dagbon are looking up to them for leadership and direction.

Thank you and God bless you all.