The visit formed part of his six-day working visit to the Oti, North East and the Savannah regions.

The visit which started from last Saturday took him to Daboya, Damongo, Sawla and Yapei.

Interactions

While at Daboya, the President paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of Wasipe, Mimuni Anyami Kabasagya II, and interacted with smock weavers at Daboya, who later presented him and the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, with commemoratory smocks.

President Akufo-Addo also interacted with students of the Sawla Senior High School, where he was informed that since the Free SHS policy started, enrolment had steadily increased from 37 per cent in the 2017/2018 academic year to 39 per cent in the current 2018/2019 academic year.”

President Akufo-Addo also inspected construction works on a District Hospital at Sawla, which is expected to be completed soon.

Church service

On Sunday, the President climaxed his tour with a church service at the St. Anne’s Catholic Cathedral in Damongo, during which he urged residents of the Savannah Region to eschew chieftaincy disputes and live as one people, as the cost of conflicts had a devastating impact not only on the people of the region, but on the country as a whole.

The President admonished the congregation to join in the fight against illegal mining, popularly referred to as galamsey.

He said work on the Damongo Water Project would begin soon, as it was set to be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting.

Warehouse

President Akufo-Addo inaugurated a 1,000 tonne capacity warehouse at Yagba/Kubori in the Mamprugu/Moaduri District as his last assignment in the North East Region before he moved to the Savannah Region.

The project, which is under the government’s One-district, One-warehouse initiative, is to help reduce post-harvest losses in the area.

It is the first of its kind to be constructed in the new region and will improve on-farm practices such as handling and storage, which exposed farm produce to pests. It will also facilitate trade between small-scale farmers and wholesalers in major cities.

Mamprugu/ Moaduri is a major production zone for rice and maize with current production levels of between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes per annum.

Agriculture transformation

Inaugurating the facility on the second day of his tour of the North East Region, President Akufo-Addo said the project was in line with the government's resolve to transform the agriculture sector.

The President said the government would continue to support the farmers in the district with farm implements to enable them to increase food production and improve on their income levels.

President Akufo-Addo, who also inspected an irrigation project under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, gave an assurance that he would do everything possible to support the project which was initiated by a foreign investor.

Infrastructure

Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people at Yagba/Kubori, the President said he had taken notice of the numerous challenges the district faced, including the poor road network and inadequate health facilities and promised that he would facilitate the processes for them to be addressed, as a matter of urgency.

"I am going to sit down with the Minister of Health on Monday to discuss how we can, as a matter of urgency, address the health needs of the people.

We will address all your concerns but I cannot assure you that we will address everything at once.

We will prioritise them," he said.

Commendation

The Chief of Yagba, Gbinaba Alhaji Iddrisu Adjei, in a speech read on his behalf, commended the President for demonstrating commitment to providing the necessary development projects for the area.

He said the people of the district would remain indebted to President Akufo-Addo because of the number of promises he had fulfilled in what he described as such a short time.