The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji A. B. A. Fuseini has denied accusations that government has neglected the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) by failing to include it in the 2015 budget.
He asked: “Is the budget the only place where an allocation can be made to any institution? There are other transactions that take place after the budget.”
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Deputy Minister said the lack of budgetary allocation to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in the 2015 budget should not be misconstrued to mean the government has neglected the Authority.
[contextly_sidebar id=”kyn3Gke2bAUPq8mWJ8sxVQg0UNN3fBt6″]His comments come on the back of anger expressed by some organizations in the three regions of the north and farmers, about the exclusion of SADA in the 2015 budget which was presented to Parliament on November 19.
According to them, the exclusion of SADA is an indication that government has no plans to develop the three regions of the north at heart.
But Alhaji Fuseini who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sagnarigu North Constituency remarked that despite the absence of SADA in the 2015 budget, “it will be farfetched to draw the conclusion that because you haven’t seen anything in the budge, it presupposes that government has not done anything for SADA in this 2015 coming year.”
According to him, there are several mechanisms through which government can channel resources to SADA, insisting that “there is something in the pipeline to help SADA…and I am very sure that something will be done.”
The Deputy Minister pointed out that due to the bad publicity the Authority received following allegations of misappropriation of funds, government is determined to ensure the operations of SADA are run smoothly devoid of any scandal.
“I know that with that kind of publicity, government wants to be assured that SADA is properly streamlined so the resources can be more judiciously utilized,” he remarked.
He questioned the failure of the aggrieved persons and organizations to seek clarifications from the management of SADA before venting their anger to the media.
“That is why I say that it is important for us to get back to the main institution that is involved to find out what arrangement has been put in place by government to help fund their activities for the coming year and until we do that, I think we should not jump to conclusions,” he argued.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana