Voltarians Go Wild As They Threaten To Boycott Gov�t Programmes

Impeccable information available to Today indicates that scores of residents in various communities in the twenty-six (26) administrative districts of the Volta region are threatening to boycott any national programme(s) being put together by government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the region. The residents, sources hinted Today, are threatening to take this action because of what they describe as ill-treatment meted out to them by officials of government at a public forum held at the Assembly Hall of Ola Senior High School (SHS) in Ho on Tuesday, November 11, 2014. The programme dubbed: �Government-For-The-People Forum,� Today gathered, was attended by the Volta Regional House of Chiefs including Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Fiavi Fiifi Kwettey, Volta Regional Minister, Mrs. Helen Adwoa Ntoso, Minister of Transport, Mrs. Dzifa Ativor, Chief of Staff, Mr. Prosper Biney, Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah and former deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr. Agyenim Boateng. The forum, Today was reliably informed, was to bring governance closer to the doorsteps of the people in the region and to afford them the opportunity to know more about some of the development projects initiated under the current NDC administration. It was also aimed at giving opportunity to the residents to ask questions and seek clarification on national issues, particularly those relating to projects being implemented in the region. But Today sources close to the forum have disclosed that the Master of Ceremony (MC,) Mr. Agyenim Boateng, did not allow the participants to voice out their concerns about the governance style of the current government. Some of the participants who were in a desperate attempt to ask questions, Today was told, were allegedly molested by the protocol officers on the orders of Mr. Boateng. That worrying situation has compelled the obviously angry participants who were selected from various communities in the region to partake in the forum to threaten to boycott subsequent national fora which would be organised by the current administration. And this decision, Today understands, is expected to be announced at a press conference in Ho in the coming days. �Master, this is a public forum so do not control us here because you have invited us to express our concerns and grievances. �� If you do not allow us to air our grievances to the honourable ministers sitting on the high table, then how would they get to know our problems in the region,?� a professional teacher in Ho, Mr. Gbedamah, angrily said. The grievances of Mr. Gbedamah, sources told Today, were expressed when he was pushed away from the mounted microphone at the event on the orders of Mr. Boateng. Earlier, Mrs. Ntoso outlined a number of development projects in the area of education undertaken by government in the region. These included classroom blocks, teachers� bungalows, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) centres, kindergarten blocks and dormitories, hostels and assembly halls for some selected schools among others. She further catalogued a number of similar commitments made by the government in the areas of health, agriculture, road infrastructure, rural electrification, water and sanitation. Among all these the only project which attracted applause from the participants was the establishment of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS). For his part, Minister of Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, touched on several positive efforts by the government to achieve good governance, stressing that the forum formed part of the process. He indicated that through good governance, the economic challenges were now easing and Ghanaians would soon start feeling the impact. Dr. Boamah gave the assurance that similar fora would be held in the rest of the regions to drum home various steps that government was taking to develop the country in the face of several challenges and also afford the people the opportunity to make inputs into the governance process in the form of questions, suggestions and contributions. On ICT, Dr. Boamah hinted that government remained deeply committed to its development of ICT for national development. He gave the assurance that more Community Information Centres (CICs) would be opened in the region in addition to the existing ones. He also indicated that government intended to inject efficiency in the telecommunication sector, especially in the area of revenue generation.