Ashanti Region has received its fair share of development - SIGA D-G

The Director General for State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Mr. Edward Boateng, has denounced public outcries tagging the government as negligent to the developmental needs of the Ashanti Region He mentioned that initiatives by President Nana Addo Dankwa in the region within the last five years pass as impressive, Purefmonline.com reports. “Projects take time to complete them, but taking a look at the hospitals been constructed; thirty-two (32) of them in Ashanti Region alone within the last five years, roads constructed within the last five years, and infrastructure to wit the One District, One Factory, all these are so significant and tells the message that this region has won his heart." He expanded that, government’s commitment to the region exceeds just initiating projects but also includes human resource inclusion in governance. “They say numbers don’t lie. Looking at the number of Cabinet Ministers, Ashantis are outnumbering the rest. I am the head of SIGA, responsible for monitoring all the State Entities and they occupy high positions the most; CEOs, Dept. CEOs, Directors, Director of Finance, Director of Resources. I have the numbers, Ashanti’s are the most appointed,” He disclosed. Speaking on the Pure Morning Drive, Mr. Edward Boateng inferred that, such public thought might be a result of these government officials being ineffective at posts and not the President himself denying the populace the goodies they deserve. The former Ambassador to China made the disclosure that most road projects funded by the Sinohydro deal are located in the Ashanti Region, which also buttresses the assertion that government has fairly dealt with the region. “While I was serving as the Ghana Ambassador to China, if nothing at all, I can confirm not less than twenty Ashanti students receiving scholarships through me, excluding the rest who accessed it by other means. If it is said we have received nothing, then what was the expectation?” He underscored. He highlighted that even though the majority of votes for the governing party is from the Ashanti Region, any elected President has sixteen (16) regions at his disposal and national development is to be shared in bits which is the practice done everywhere. The Director General shared that he feels Ashanti appointees are to do even more which is the very reason for crafting a strategy to harness an idea to drum home this vision. “I started something; meeting all Ashanti appointees. On September 30, we met in Accra. Next two weeks, we are meeting in Kumasi and hopefully, we will be doing more of these things in order to digress on how they can support by some means.” “The intention, spearheaded by the Chief of Staff is to institute a fund among themselves to contribute some solutions to the problems of the region as their social responsibility,” He added. He, however, charged the appointees to connect and share the impact and influences of their offices with their natives locally, in order to create an attestation of the government’s decentralized presence. Mr. Edward Boateng affirmed that this initiative will complement government efforts in addressing developmental challenges in the Region to forestall unhealthy criticisms.