Government, he said, would make certain that the nation was not overrun by criminal elements with impunity, assuring that the Police Service would, in the coming months, witness a greater enhancement of their capacity to enforce and reduce infractions of the law.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when the leadership, some chiefs and queenmothers from the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, called on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra. He told the traditional rulers that his government’s priority was to ensure that the citizenry went about their duties in an orderly and peaceful manner, and that through prudent economic management, it had found the means to equip the security services to ensure that there was peace, tranquility and security in every part of the country.

The President made the delegation aware that government had made it a   priority to improve the quality of life and the social and economic conditions of the people in the Upper West Region.

He said his administration had initiated a raft of plans to improve the social and economic conditions of the Upper West Region, particularly in the areas of education, health, agriculture, infrastructure, and aviation.

On education, President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the conversion of the Wa Campus of the University of Development Studies into a fully-fledged university was well underway, as the requisite institutions of State were being impressed to support the move.

“A lot of work has already gone into it. The Ministry of Education and the Council for Higher Education are working behind the scene and I am very optimistic that very soon, we will hear something positive,” he said.The President informed the chiefs that government was also committed to the process of converting the Wa Polytechnic, recently named after Dr Hilla Limann, into a technical university, adding that the necessary infrastructure was being put in place to enable the institution to attain that status.

On aviation, he informed the delegation that construction of the Wa Airport had been completed and would be made operational very soon to open up the Region for trade and investment.

President Akufo-Addo further assured the people of the region of quality health care with work soon to commence on the Wa Regional Hospital as government had made the provision for that in the 2018 Budget.On a proposal by the chiefs for the establishment of a Shea Development Board to support the production and export of the crop, President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance that government would look into the request because that sub-sector could change the fortunes of the Region for good.

He urged the chiefs, and indeed all Ghanaians, to support the Government to achieve the vision of a Ghana beyond aid. The President of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, Kuoro Richard Babini Kanton VI, commended President Akufo-Addo for the strides his administration had made in its first year of governance, saying government’s policies and programmes had affected the lives of his people and the entirety of Ghanaians positively.

He urged the President to stay focused on his agenda to bring rapid development to Ghana and pledged the support of the chiefs and people of the Region towards the realisation of that vision.