According to John Dramani Mahama, government has already released GH¢100 million as the first tranche of the GH¢200 million for the effective running of SADA and that the money was already sitting in the account of SADA. The remaining GH¢100 million seed money for SADA would be released in the second quarter of 2012, adding, that in the 2012 budget of the government, an amount of GH¢30million has been allocated to the SADA Secretariat for its administrative work.
Moreover, the inauguration of the SCC which took place at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, brought together representatives of the five regions of the SADA programme area which include Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions as well as the Northern parts of the Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions. The Committee is the final requirement of the SADA Law (ACT 805 of 2010).
The SCC which comprises of 53 members shall provide the mechanism for “effective stakeholder ownership of the policies and programmes of the Authority, and effective cooperation among public sector agencies, the private sector as well as organizations of civil society concerned directly or indirectly with issues of social and economic development of the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone.”
The Committee shall serve as an advisory body to review plans and also provide stakeholders inputs into policies, programmes and projects of the Authority.
The SCC comprises (a) Regional Ministers in the participating regions with each Regional Minister acting as a chairperson and convener on rotation; (b) one chief from each region in the Northern Savannah nominated by the Regional House of Chiefs; (c) one person each from the Regional Economic Planning Units of the participating regions in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone; (d) one representative from each region in the Northern Savannah from non-governmental development organization nominated by a forum of non-governmental organizations in the region; (e) one representative from each region in the North from the private sector nominated by the private sector forum in that region; (f) three representatives from a District Assembly, one of whom is a presiding member, a planning officer and the other a District Chief Executive nominated by the regional grouping of District Assemblies; (g) two persons representing Northern Ghanaian opinion leaders resident in other parts of the country nominated by the forum of Northern Ghanaians; (h) one representative from each region in the North representing women’s groups nominated by a forum of women’s organizations; and (i) three persons representing the University for Development Studies, research and other tertiary educational institutions in the programme areas nominated by the Minister; and (j) seven persons representing Members of Parliament, five of whom shall be from the programme area and two from other parts of the country.
Besides, representatives from other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies may be co-opted as ex-officio members. The SCC shall meet at least twice annually and in a place within the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone.
According to Mr. Mahama, government has also presented a five-year medium term development plan of SADA to parliament for approval so that it could guide the Authority during its projects implementation.
He disclosed that the Chinese government had provided a grant of GH¢12million towards the purchase of farm implements to expand the sector in order to stop migration among the youth of the North. Adding, that two rice milling plants would soon be established within the SADA ecological zone by Avnash (a foreign investment company) to purchase paddy rice from all the rice farmers and also whip up interest among those who want to go into farming.
Vice President John Mahama further disclosed that a shea butter processing factory had been setup in Buipe under the auspices of SADA and would soon be operational, noting that products of the factory had all been bought in advance by the Brazilian government.
Also, as part of his visit to the Northern Region, he inaugurated a US$5million water facility built under the Millennium Challenge Account compact at Pong-Tamale in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality. The facility would serve over 50,000 people resident in the Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu-Nanton Municipality and Tolon-Kumbungu District.
The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority is a government policy initiative aimed at addressing the development gap that exists between Northern and Southern Ghana. SADA’s mandate is to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Savannah belt through strategic investment in resource development. It envisions a “Forested North” by 2030 where agricultural production is modernised and oriented towards a larger market.
The SADA initiative has six unique pillars which include the following: development of a comprehensive regional and ecological strategy; a model for the modernisation of agriculture; development of strategic infrastructure; strong linkage between Northern Savannah and the Sahelian countries; a vigorous private sector initiative that strengthens existing private operators; and active support for Civil Society Organizations and NGOs.
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