A social advocate for development in the Upper East Region, Counsel Abopam Stanley, has blamed the region’s slow development on what he calls a “toxic mix” of parochial politics, ethnic rivalry and inward-looking leadership.
Speaking in a phone interview on Bluewaves Breakfast Show, Abopam said many political actors and opinion leaders in the region are more concerned with what they can gain in their own constituencies than with a shared regional development agenda.
He noted that MPs and aspirants are focused on Bolgatanga Central, Bolgatanga East, Kassena Nankana East and West, Bongo, Nabdam, Talensi, Bawku, Garu, Tempane, Pusiga and other constituencies, each calculating how projects will benefit them politically in future elections.
“It is not bad to look at your individual place. But there is a place where we step; there is a place that represents the face of the region. What happens to that?” he asked. He said this missing collective outlook is where “the political imbalance comes in.”
He contrasted the Upper East with the Upper West Region, which he said has shown greater maturity in pursuing regional projects. He cited the push for a medical school in Wa, where he said MPs and opinion leaders across the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress, and from different ethnic groups, came together to support the equipping of the Wa Regional Hospital for accreditation.
“They have seen this as a project for the region,” he said, adding that leaders from Dagaaba, Sissala, Wala and other areas did not object because they understood the benefit would spread.
Abopam also criticised the controversy over the siting of an airport in the Upper East. He said the debate was needless, especially after significant investment had been made at a particular site. He recalled appealing to a chief that the location remained suitable and available, and urged the presidency to reconsider it to avoid delaying the project. Instead, he said, another group of chiefs held a press conference to counter their colleagues, simply because they believed the project should be in their area.
“That is the level of mediocrity in the region when it comes to infrastructure development from our opinion leaders and traditional leaders,” he said.
He further recalled his time in the Upper West in 2015, when all MPs in the region, regardless of party, united to push for a road project from Wa town towards the Electoral Commission and the Regional House of Chiefs. He said the MPs, including the current Speaker of Parliament, worked with the regional minister at the time to ensure the road was done.
Abopam said the situation in the Upper East is different because opinion leaders are “so much segregated and inward-looking.” He argued that they fail to understand that development in one part of the region can trickle down to others.
He said the Kassenas often interpret development in Bolgatanga, Tongo, Nangodi, Bongo and Nabdam as being against them, while the Sandema and Kusaasi areas also want projects located only in their own areas.
In the Upper West, he said, people are not bothered when an airport, specialist hospital or stadium is built in Wa because they know it is easier to fly to Wa and travel to Nandom, Tumu, Jirapa, Lawra and other areas, or to access specialist care and enjoy sports there.
He urged opinion leaders, chiefs and MPs in the Upper East to change their mindset and pursue a common regional development agenda, rather than competing along ethnic, tribal and constituency lines.
“Leadership in all other regions are committed to the development of their region,” he said, adding that the Upper East must learn from that example.
By Gayheart Abraham
Source: Mybluewavesonline.Com|Maurice Duncan| Bolgatanga
