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Ghana: Assemblyman Calls for 25 Percent of Oil Revenue for North
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Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
William N. Jalulah
Bolgatanga
THOUGH GHANA is still negotiating with oil-producing countries, and other first world countries, on how to produce the oil it has discovered in commercial quantities, a former assembly member for Zaare near Bolgatanga, Mr. Alagskomah Asakeya M. Noble, is already proposing that 25% of oil revenue, be given to all the three regions in the north, and the Central Region.
The former assembly member claims that the extreme poverty levels in these regions, pose a serious threat to the country's developmental agenda, and its dream of meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), by 2015.
Stating his proposal, in a release he signed in Bolgatanga, Mr. Alagskomah says 25% of the oil revenue could be intensively invested in three key sectors of the economy, education, agriculture and health, in these four regions.
According to him, there are several natural resources that Ghana has, including gold and timber, yet the living conditions of Ghanaians are worsening every passing day, with crime wave in the ascendancy.
Endowed with these natural, as well as human resources, the former Zaare assembly member thinks Ghana should have been a developed country by now, if these resources were fairly distributed and managed.
He therefore attributed the situation to corruption, nepotism, misplaced priorities and greed.
Mr. Alagskomah states; "What we need to do as a people, as well as civil society organizations, is to serve as watchdogs to the project closely, to ensure prudent management of the resources, so that Ghanaians, more importantly, the underdogs who are the majority, can benefit from the revenue that will be accrued."
He was optimistic that if the proposed 25% of oil revenue is given approval, and added to the GH¢25,000,000.00 as seed money, to bridge the gap between the north and the south, it would address the yawning disparities between the two areas.
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"I want to be frank with the government that Northerners have come to the realization that they, (Northerners) are being used for election purposes, and also hewers of wood and drawers of water, and will certainly not allow this to remain forever, hence the call for a pragmatic approach in addressing the Northern factor," Mr. Alagskomah cautioned.
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