Working Tour of Eastern Region
The National Coordinator of the Monitoring and Evaluation Secretariat (MES), Hon. Gifty Ohene-Konadu has embarked on a working tour of the Eastern Region to apprise herself on the ongoing Government Flagship Programmes and High Priorities in the various districts of the region. The tour is also to independently ascertain the status of implementation, document challenges and lessons learnt as well as to make recommendations.
The tour is line with the core mandate and functions of the Secretariat which are to: coordinate, facilitate, monitor, and evaluate the effective and efficient implementation and delivery of government policies and programs aimed at addressing national development challenges, initiate evidence-based M&E Policies taking into account the mandate of the MDAs/MMDA, increase government accountability and coordination to ensure cost-effectiveness and sustainability as well as promote real-time M&E of Government Flagship Programs, and High priorities and frontline services in line with set targets.
Projects visited by the National Coordinator and her team include amongst others, the reconstruction of the Kom Health Centre at Aburi into a state-of-the-art hospital facility which is 90% complete. The Center is undergoing refurbishment, retooling, and equipping to a 40-bed ultra-modern polyclinic to provide efficient health delivery to communities at Aburi, Obusumase, Kitase, Tutu as far as Madina and Adenta.
The team was in the Yilo Krobo District where Government provided a Solar Powered Community Water Project (SPCWS) - This project is part of the $1million per Constituency Project piloted by the erstwhile Ministry for Special Development Initiative to provide water to rural communities. It is under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP). This Special Presidential Initiative provided relief to the hitherto water crisis in Klo Begoro, Akorwu Bana and Tsotsunya communities in the district. This Presidential intervention has alleviated the hardship of the people by providing portable drinking water to the communities for their very existence for “Water is Life”.
Another strategic Government Flagship Programme Railway Development is high on the Government Flagship Programme league table. The project is Construction of Single Standard Gauge Railway Line from Tema to Mpakadan on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Basis. The transportation of domestic freight between the Tema Region (Accra) Southern Coastal region and Northern Ghana and land locked region, and further to adjacent countries like Bourkina Faso, Mali and Niger, is essentially road based and largely dependent on the National Road Routes west of lake Volta connecting the North-South corridor via Kumasi, Tamale and Bolgatanga.
The project is over 80% complete and the completion date is expected to be March 31, 2022. When completed, cost of transporting from Tema Port to Inland Port of Mpakadan for conveyance over the Volta to the Northern Ghana and other land locked countries will be low compared to road travels.
The One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative is the vision of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to change the nature of Ghana’s economy from one which is dependent on import and export of raw material to one which is focused on manufacturing, value addition and export of processed goods; create massive employment particularly for the youth in rural and peri-urban communities, and thereby improve income levels and standards of living, as well as reduce rural-urban migration.
The Kete Krachie Timber Recovery Ltd. is exhibiting the tenets 1D1F as envisioned. The project is log recovery from the volta lake into lumber for export. Project was commissioned by His Excellency the President Akuffo Addo as a 1D1F in November 2018. It is in the business of timber recovery into lumber for export.
The company has taken delivery of additional machinery and equipment to enhance operations and it is stepping up to add value by processing the lumber into other finished products, not just exporting the lumber export. It employs 120 permanent employees from the nearby Sedorm Community, the Krobo enclave and the Asuogyaman District.
On the final leg of the tour, the team moved to Kadjanya in the Lower Manya Kobo District where it toured the Strongmen Foods and Farms Ltd. The mill was established by Strongmen Foods and Farms (a 1D1F company). It operates the Aggregatorship Systems - mobilising raw materials (paddy rice) from the farmers and supply the mill. The company then dry, mill, grade, package and wholesale under the brand name is "Mr. Rabbit".
At the end of the working visit, Hon. Gifty Ohene-Konadu reiterated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo is committed to accelerate the development of the country through industrialization and the delivery of the necessary infrastructure.