SPEED UP MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT PROJECTS (PAGE 21)

Farmers in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region have appealed to the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) to speed up the implementation of projects under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in the area.
Although the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Ghana programme has been taken to another level with the inauguration of the first District Advisory Committee (DAC) at Walewale recently, they expressed the hope that the physical manifestation of the programme would not delay.
The inauguration was under the auspices of the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA). Each DAC is tasked with the responsibility of providing representatives of the private sector, civil society, and local and regional governments the opportunity of offering advice and making the necessary inputs to the MIDA regarding the implementation of the compact.
The West Mamprusi District Chief Executive (dce), Mr Nabila Sulemana, expressed the hope that the inauguration of the DAC would kick-start the physical manifestation of the project in the district.
According to him, farmers were awaiting training to prepare them to take advantage of the financial component of the MCA.
“The enthusiasm among the people is very high and this is exerting a lot of pressure on district officials; we wish therefore to suggest that the implementation procedures be accelerated so that our people would benefit from the full stretch of the programme,” the dce further stressed.
The Community and Public Outreach Manager of MIDA, Mr Selasi Adjorlolo, however, explained that although the MCA agreement was signed in August 2006 between the United States of America and Ghana, it did not automatically mean the project had started.
According to him, a lot of things like the ratification of the MCA compact by Parliament in February 2007, had to be put in place as part of the process of implementation.
During the inaugural ceremony of the 25-member DAC, the Chief Executive Officer of MIDA, Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, in a speech read on his behalf, called on the DAC members to “facilitate progress of work devoid of bureaucracy or to become another bottleneck in our implementation process”.
“The government is enjoined to ensure the establishment of three Zonal Advisory Committees in the three intervention Zones namely northern agricultural zone, the Afram basin area and the southern horticultural belt,” Mr Eson-Benjamin pointed out.
According to him, ”we were in the process of getting ourselves ready to implement this important compact requirement when it was detected that the sheer number of districts, 23 in number, and each with its own peculiar needs and challenges, made the setting up of one Zonal Advisory Committee difficult and unrealistic”.