Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged petroleum companies operating in the Western Region to partner the government to develop the communities where they operate.
He said companies like ENI Ghana, Ghana Gas, AKKER Petroleum and Tullow Oil among others, must help improve the quality of life in the Nzema communities in the region.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said this when he joined Awulae Amihere Kpanyinli III, Omanhene of Eastern Nzema Traditional Area as well as the chiefs and people of Ellembelle to celebrate the 2018 Adoabo Kundum festival.
The Kundum festival is historic in the lives of the people as a period of preparation for harvest. It is an avenue for uniting the people and linking them to their ancestral heritage.
Dr Bawumia, in his address, stressed the need for the people in the area to live in peace and harmony to promote development in the area.
“We as citizens must come together, ask how we can contribute to the development of our communities, become leaders in our own way, and help set out various developmental programmes to improve the lives of their communities,” he said.
Vice President Bawumia touched on the performance of the government since January last year and indicated that the key focus of the President Akufo-Addo administration was the implementation of inclusive and human-centered policies.
“It is against this background that the NPP government since coming into power last year has craftily pursued the trajectory of implementing human centred policies that leave no one behind the development ladder.”
“Policies like the Free Senior High School (SHS), Nation Builder’s Corps (NaBCo), Planting for Food and Jobs, One-Village-One-Dam, among others are programmes of government which cover all of Ghana to promote social inclusion.”
“Aside these, we are also building critical and innovative soft infrastructure that affect our everyday living. These include the National ID or Ghana Card, the Digital Addressing System, Paperless Ports, mobile money payments interoperability, the new Smart Driving Licenses, the ease of getting passports, and so on”, Dr Bawumia said.
The Vice-President said the government had also embarked on several social intervention programmes to assuage the sufferings of the people through the restoration of teacher and nursing trainee allowances, reduction of electricity tariffs, the abolition of nuisance taxes and expanding the welfare safety net by increasing the share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) to persons with disabilities from two per cent to three per cent.
He noted that the government had also increased the school feeding programme from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children, increased the amount spent on each child by 25 per cent, and more than doubled the Capitation Grant (from GH¢4.5 to GH¢10.00).
“If you are a small business person, a trader or a farmer, Free SHS is saying keep that money and invest in your business or farm without having to take a loan from the bank. If indeed we want to see government policies and programmes putting money directly in our pockets don’t look too far – the Free SHS is simply doing that”, he indicated.
Dr Bawumia also emphasised that for the people of Ellembelle and the Western Region, policies such as the free SHS were the surest means to ensure that future generation acquired the basic minimum qualification and even higher ones capable of guaranteeing them respectable job positions in the oil and gas industry.
“Without educating our children very early in life, how can we expect them to be part of the oil and gas industry that is developing around us? The oil and gas companies will bring in workers from abroad to do the work if they can’t get the right people to work in the industry,” the Vice President added.
On his part, the paramount chief of the traditional area, Awulae Amihere Kpanyili III, used the occasion to thank the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government for the good programmes and policies they had outlined to help the masses, particularly the poor in society.
“We would like to thank you for the introduction of Free SHS and NaBCo to help parents across the country especially those in rural areas, Mr Vice President, your government always keeps promises and when you pledge, you fulfil. We thank you”, he said.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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