The participants were schooled on the operations of the Planting for Food and Jobs, One Village One Dam, Free Senior High School, the One District One Factory and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plans (NEIP) initiatives among others.

The meeting, which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Local Government at Binguri in the Binduri district of the Upper East Region, was part of government’s effort to involve the people in the decision-making process to foster good governance in the country.  

Mr Abraham Anyande, District Information Officer who addressed the participants said the meeting was part of efforts to promote local governance and accountability at the grassroots level and to encourage the people to participate effectively in governance and urged the people to participate effectively in the meeting and make their inputs for redress at the central government level to inform government of the immediate needs of the area.

Mr Yakubu Ayinga Abagre, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, in a presentation, outlined the impetus of government policies on development and said they were geared towards eradicating poverty and providing enabling environment for human existence and said unemployment was a national security threat “since the devil would always find work for idle hands,” as only 5,000 out of 250,000 graduates from tertiary institutions find jobs every year.

Mr Abagre said to improve on the situation, government introduced the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) to absorb the remaining 245,000 and explained that the NEIP would create new businesses and grow existing ones to enable them develop viable and lucrative employment opportunities for the youth.

MrAbagre said the NEIP would soon train the youth to acquire skills in vegetables and other crop production that would enable them grow crops for both foreign and domestic consumption.

He indicated that Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) would focus on redirecting capital expenditure towards the constituency level as well as look into the infrastructure and economic development priorities with particular emphasises on rural and deprived communities.

The DCE called on the participants to support government to execute the polices, because under the IPEP, each of the 275 constituencies would be given the equivalent of $1,000,000 dollars annually for development projects.

Naba Robert Agapwin Akolbilla, Divisional Chief of the Binduri Traditional Area lauded government’s policy of the one constituency one million dollar support and said the initiative would  support the Assembly to meet the priorities of the district.

He said the area was endowed with lots of potentials such as shea-nuts, groundnuts, among other things and indicated that if the one district one factory takes shape, it would absorb all these raw materials and create jobs for the youth in the area.

Mr Emmanuel Asongi Bukari Assembly Member for the Kupkarigu electoral area commended government for the agro-inputs which include seeds for sewing and that it would encourage farmers and the youth to do more farming even in the dry season to promote food security in the area.

The meeting brought together traditional authorities, the clergy, women groups, heads of government decentralised departments, educationists, heads of the security agencies, people living with disabilities, youth groups, health workers and the members of the public among others.