President John Dramani Mahama has announced a GH¢1 billion Bawku Revitalisation Fund to support the reconstruction and development of the area, with priority on roads, bridges and healthcare infrastructure.
Speaking at the Resetting Ghana Citizens’ Engagement in Bolgatanga on August 14, President Mahama said the fund is intended to help restore Bawku’s economic activity and improve the movement of people, traders and farmers.
“I promise one billion Cedis for the Bawku Revitalization Fund. I’m happy to announce that next week I’m inaugurating the committee. But even before we have inaugurated the committee, some work has started on Bawku town roads, on some health facilities and others,” he disclosed.
President Mahama welcomed the relative calm in Bawku, expressing hope that sustained peace would restore the town’s status as a major commercial centre and encourage residents who fled the area to return.
“Bawku is finally calm. The guns have stopped sounding, and people are beginning to go about their business. I believe that if this peace continues, Bawku will bounce back to its original glory as a major commercial area of our country. And a lot of the people who left will come back. Teachers left, health professionals left.
Indeed, last year, we couldn’t post national service people to Bawku because of the fighting. We couldn’t post doctors to Bawku because of the fighting. And so, I believe that with this peace that we have found, if we continue, Bawku will become what it was before,” he said.
The President disclosed that work had already begun on some township roads and health facilities, while government plans to complete an Agenda 111 hospital and construct another hospital in Bawku.
“We’re devoting the bulk of the money to the health sector and the road sector. We want to improve the road network, the bridges in the Bawku area, so that traders and others, farmers can move their goods and services easily. And then also improve the healthcare in the area.
And so we’ll complete one of the agenda 111 hospitals there. And then we’ll also build a new hospital in Bawku itself. And so these are some of the things that we are working on,” the President outlined.
President Mahama commended the traditional authorities and residents for their efforts towards sustaining peace.
He praised the Inspector-General of Police and other security personnel for the efforts in what he described as significant improvement in security across the Upper East Region.
He said incidents of motorbike snatching, armed robbery and other crimes had reduced considerably.
