By Anthony Adongo Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Sept. 03, GNA – Mr Akamugri Donatus Atanga, the Upper East Regional Minister, has called for the institutionalisation of the Prosperity through Enterprise, Agriculture, Resilience and Livelihoods (PEARL) Framework to ensure its continuity beyond political and administrative transitions.
He said the 10-year development and investment blueprint for the Upper East Region, must be structured in a manner that would prevent successive governments and administrations from abandoning it when political leadership changed.
“We must also address the question of institutional continuity. A ten-year development agenda must be able to withstand political and administrative transitions. Development must not begin again every four years. PEARL must become a durable development instrument of the Upper East Region.
“We must therefore establish arrangements that protect the integrity of PEARL, ensure transparency and professional management, and enable successive administrations to build upon what has already been achieved,” Mr Atanga emphasised.
He made the call at Bolgatanga during a stakeholder review meeting on the development of the PEARL Framework.
The meeting formed part of efforts to review inputs from stakeholders, resolve outstanding issues and agree on institutional, financial and implementation arrangements ahead of the launch and implementation of the framework.
The PEARL Framework is 10-year (2026-2035) development blueprint designed to transform the region’s agricultural potential into competitive agribusiness, promote enterprise development, harness mineral resources for broader economic value, expand trade and investment and create employment opportunities.
It is expected to serve as the region’s long-term development and investment blueprint, providing a roadmap for mobilising an estimated GH¢8.6 billion in public and private sector investments.
Mr Atanga said its success would ultimately be measured not by the quality of the document but by the tangible changes and opportunities it created for people in communities across the region.
Mr Atanga said a development agenda spanning 10 years should not therefore be subjected to the four-year political cycle, stressing the need for arrangements that would protect the integrity of PEARL and enable successive administrations to build on achievements made by their predecessors.
“It must not belong to one institution, one administration or one political party. It must belong to the Region,” he said.
The Minister said the success of PEARL would depend on strong institutions, sustainable financing, partnerships, effective coordination and accountability mechanisms.
Mr Atanga also urged stakeholders to ensure that PEARL was properly integrated into national and regional planning and budgeting systems to enable the Region to take advantage of national programmes, private investments and development financing opportunities.
Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, the Member of Parliament for Nabdam, said the implementation of PEARL required the active involvement of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and urged stakeholders to ensure that the framework was used to guide development planning and the utilisation of available resources at the local level.
Dr Nawaane said PEARL was about the development of the Upper East Region and covered various sectors, including agriculture, mineral resources, arts and crafts, stressing that existing resources could be strategically directed through the framework to achieve better development outcomes.
Mr Boniface Gambila, a former Ambassador of Ghana to Burkina Faso and former Upper East Regional Minister, also called on stakeholders to put the development interests of the region above partisan political considerations.
He said past development interventions had suffered challenges of discontinuity and changes in direction, stressing the importance of ensuring that PEARL remained focused on the collective development needs of the people of the Upper East Region.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo
Reporter: Anthony Adongo Apubeo
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