COMMUNITY RADIO STATION FOR SANG (PAGE 20)

A Community Radio Station is to be established at Sang in the Yendi District to transmit development-oriented programmes by the close of next month.
The $400,000 station would also broadcast distant learning programmes under the School for Life intervention to benefit communities along the eastern corridor of the Northern Region.
It is being funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
The Chairman of the Ghana Development Communities Association (GDCA), Professor Abubakr Al-Hassan, who made this known at a three-day regional festival of Community Base Organisations (CBO’s) in Tamale, said, the project was being facilitated by the GDCA and would cover eight districts.
The districts include Zabzugu-Tatale, Saboba, Gushiegu, Kpandai, Nanumba North and South.
Prof. Al-Hassan further explained that the project involved the erection of a mast to facilitate transmission and procurement of other equipment, including furniture.
It was aimed at providing a platform for development agencies to share experiences and to inform other organisations of the new trends in the development sector.
The festival was instituted by the GDCA five years ago to sensitise communities to their roles and responsibilities and the need to demand accountability from officials.
This year’s programme was on the theme: “Promoting transparency and accountability through effective organisation of community- based civil society organisations”.
Prof. Al-Hassan called on CBOs in the Sang area to support the GDCA to facilitate the establishment of the new radio station.
He cautioned the people against using the station to promote political activities to the neglect of development programmes.
Prof. Al-Hassan gave a pledge on behalf of the GDCA to establish CBOs in all districts of the Northern Region, adding that it had so far formed the organisation in 14 districts of the region.
The Chairman of the CBO unit of the GDCA, Mr Haruna Husheini Sulemana, observed that the GDCA had been operating in the north for more than 28 years, promoting peace, good governance, transparency and accountability.
He noted with regret at the seeming “civic ignorance” among the youth who he claimed were easily manipulated to engage in lawlessness.
Mr Sulemana, therefore, entreated the youth to complement the efforts of civil society groups and non-governmental organisations to promote peace in the region.
The Northern Regional Programme Officer of SEND Ghana, an NGO, Mr Mohammed Mahamud, urged CBOs to engage in policy analysis and advocacy and help promote good governance in the country.