By Rosemary Wayo
Tamale, Feb 17, GNA – The Northern Region has been ranked 15th performing region in the 2021 District League Table (DLT) with a score of 58.05 per cent.
The region performed better than only the Savannah Region while three of its districts were ranked among the least 10 performing Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the DLT.
The districts included the Nanumba South, Tatali-Sangule and Nanton, which placed 258th, 260th and 261st in that order.
Greater Accra was ranked the best performing region in the DLT with 72.37 per cent and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly was ranked the best performing Assembly with 81.75 per cent.
These formed part of the DLT report, which was released at a forum in Tamale by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The forum brought together stakeholders from the various MMDAs across the region for deliberations on their performances.
The 2022 DLT was also launched at the forum to kick-start preparations towards the year’s report.
The report, which is a tool for tracking national development and highlighting the performances of districts, sought to provide evidence and basis for equitable allocation of resources and social investments to reduce disparities among MMDAs.
The ranking was based on 22 indicators across sectors such as health, education, water, sanitation, energy, nutrition and governance.
Mr Isaac Kwasi Ewoeh, Principal Planning Analyst at NDPC, who presented the report at the forum, said the analysis of each sector indicated disparities among MMDAs in the country.
He said among other recommendations by the report, the Ministry of Finance and the NDPC should ensure that national resources were allocated using the appropriate tools to support lowly-ranked MMDAs.
Dr Sulemana Abudulai, Northern Regional Commissioner of the NDPC, said the DLT followed a bigger objective of generating action by government towards ensuring better prioritisation while engendering positive competition among MMDAs to stimulate good performances.
He said the DLT was institutionalised to improve evidence-based planning and results from the implementation of district medium-term plans.
Alhaji Inusah Abukari, Northern Regional Economic Planning Officer, urged MMDAs to focus on the software aspect of development rather than physical projects, saying that would enhance the country’s development.
Mr Bhanu Pathak, Chief Field Officer, UNICEF, Tamale Field Office, said the DLT was an advocacy tool for equitable resourcing to ensure that children benefited from social services at all district levels.
He encouraged MMDAs to utilise the DLT to enhance socal accountability and citizens’ participation in decision-making and monitoring development investments.
GNA