Dan Botwe, the Minister of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development, has emphasised the critical need to harmonise global perspectives with local actions to ensure that the benefits of development extend to every household and community in Ghana. Speaking at the Upper West Regional Development Forum in Wa last Thursday, Mr Botwe highlighted the importance of the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SoCo) projects, which embody key principles of local governance and decentralisation.
These principles, according to Mr Botwe, include fiscal decentralisation, popular participation, decentralised planning, and local economic development. He stressed that these interconnected strategies are crucial not just for promoting development, but also for building trust among communities, thereby reducing their vulnerability to conflict and violence.
The development forum, a collaborative effort by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Decentralisation, was first held in Tamale on August 15 last year to address development issues in Northern Ghana.
According to a report by Graphic Online, Mr Botwe elaborated on the user forum on a knowledge management platform developed to catalogue spatially mapped investments and host research and knowledge materials for various stakeholders. This initiative marks a significant move towards a more coordinated, participatory, and well-informed approach to development in Northern Ghana.
Highlighting the impact of these interventions on citizens’ lives, Mr Botwe acknowledged that although Northern Ghana had seen considerable development efforts, especially by non-governmental organisations in health, education, infrastructure, and local economic growth, the overall impact could have been more substantial. He attributed this to the fragmented and uncoordinated nature of these interventions and urged a more cohesive approach to fully realizing the developmental vision for the region.
A scoping report presented at the forum shed light on the unique challenges and opportunities in Northern Ghana. The report advocates a community-based approach to ensure that projects like SoCo become catalysts for change, grounding development efforts in people’s everyday needs and aspirations.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, noted the transformative effect of the SoCo Project on the region’s development agenda. He mentioned that district and community capacity-building teams had been trained to support the project’s implementation and called for community backing to ensure its success.
Despite these initiatives, challenges remain, particularly at the district assembly level, including issues with reporting timelines, data gathering, and storage. Dr. Bin Salih urged the adoption of the Digital Management Platform by the metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies to improve performance.
A Vice-Chairman of the NDPC, David Quaye Annang, who chaired the forum, pointed out that the SoCo projects aim to address challenges arising from potential conflicts and extremism in the Sahel region, the impacts of climate change, strengthening local institutions, improving economic opportunities, and building public trust.
He acknowledged the harsh climatic conditions of the Guinea-Savannah region, emphasising that despite past efforts by governments, development partners, and NGOs, the impact has been limited due to a lack of coordination and a fragmented approach to programme implementation.
The forum’s ultimate goal, as stated by Mr Annang, is to promote evidence-based decision-making for integrated and inclusive development in Northern Ghana.
