DAILY GRAPHIC
MONDAY 20 OCTOBER, 2008
NORTHERN CHIEFS COMMEND PRESIDENT
Chiefs of the three northern regions have commended President J. A. Kufour for the establishment of a development fund for the three northern regions and called on Parliament to approve the passage of the bill into an act.
They also called on Members of Parliament (MPs) from the north to support the process of the passage of the bill.
A forum of 25 chiefs from all the three northern regions urged all the regional houses of chiefs in the northern part of the country to show public support for the passage of the fund and educate all traditional councils and their people on the fund.
A communiqué issued at the end of the forum urged the government to speed up the implementation of the programs of the Northern Development Fund.
It said the eminent chiefs saw the need to unite for northern Ghana’s development and ensure that peace initiatives currently underway were strengthened.
It said conflict prevention efforts should be directed towards earl-warning rather than security responses, stressing the “chiefs should be prepared to engage in these early warning systems and act decisively to mediate when issues of potential conflicts are looming”.
On agriculture, the chiefs observed that there had not been adequate adherence to politics, pointing out that past politics such as FASCOM and Operation Feed Yourself ensured that the north was self-sufficient in maize and rice but those initiatives were discontinued.
It called for the re-introduction of policies to support and subsidies northern farmers’ efforts to produce food for the whole country.
Recognizing the traditional and important role of sheanuts, the chiefs said improved varieties of sheanuts should be used to permanent source of income for farmers.
The communiqué called for the implementation of a strategy for a forested north.
It called on people from the north to stop the practice of felling economic trees for burning charcoal and protect all the vital eco-systems and rivers, while chiefs took steps to stop bush burning.
On finding of the development in the north, the chiefs stressed the need for the diversification of sources of finding since current sources of budget funding were not adequate.
It said chiefs recognized the importance of gender issues and, therefore, urged the farmers of the development strategy to include women in all the institutions in the planning and managing of the Northern Development Initiative.
The communiqué and women must also be included on all boards designed to provide guidance for the fund and the development strategy and in addition, they should also receive the same benefits as men and be protected sufficiently in carrying out their vocations.
