The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Mr. Alhassan Andani has appealed to the conscience of Chiefs and people of Northern Ghana who highly doubted the government’s ability to implement the SADA projects, to just spare the authorities a little time to put in place the necessary structures and mechanisms.
According to him, even though the people were highly anxious about SADA, looking at the deprived nature of the North- there was also the need for the people to know how comprehensive the SADA project was and how important it was for the SADA Board to apply cautiousness to ensure its success and sustainability.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Savannahnews in Tamale, Mr. Andani also the Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, said the SADA was to be implemented within 25 years and thus its success or failure would largely be depended on the very foundation of the programme.
“We know how anxious the people are; and we are also aware of the assertions by some people that the NDC government cannot implement the SADA programme. But what I want our people to know is that, SADA is coming to stay, it is coming to better our lives and it is coming to bridge the development gab between the North and the South. So therefore we should avoid every rush”.
Mr. Andani reminded the people that, the SADA law was passed towards the end of last year and the Board was inaugurated on the 22 of December 2010 and that what was being done at the moment was to put in place the right management team to commence work.
At the moment, it had been agreed that the administrative Headquarters of the SADA should be situated in Tamale, “but that is not just all, because SADA is all about development and it requires a lot of consultations, planning and a lot of resources”.
Mr. Alhassan Andani however appealed to the media to help in any way it could to make the people to understand the intricacies of the SADA and also woo them to offer their maximum support and cooperation to the SADA Authority.
Meanwhile, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority is an ambitious policy being spearheaded by the ruling government to help scale up the rate of development in Northern Ghana. Government is to spend over 200 million Ghana Cedis and has already allocated 2.5 million Ghanaian Cedis as seed money so as to implement a number of development projects aimed at breaking the cycle of destitution in the area.
A particular focus of SADA is how to reinvigorate shea as a viable industry, capable of helping reduce considerably the level of poverty in the three Northern Regions and the Northern parts of the Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions.
However, Savannahnews has gathered that the establishment of SADA Board of Directors, the appointment of Chief Executive Officer and the first set of six professional staff are the most critical issues for government and its partners to ensure the success of SADA.
Others include the approval of SADA Development Plan and Expenditure for the medium term, Development of Partner Conference on SADA, presentation of the financial sustainability plan and the first substantial budget and the SADA permanent Secretariat.
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