According to Deputy Spokesperson on Employment, Social Welfare and State Enterprises, Richard Quashigah, the zone,which has been established for the Authority to administer, has a mixture of Coastal and forest zones, hence the most appropriate name would be the Southern Development Authority.

“One of the issues that came up when we went on the stakeholder’s conference around the country is the issue of the title – Coastal Development Authority. Meanwhile, this is an Authority that covers the whole of the Western, the Greater Accra and the Central Regions. We know too well that the coastal aspects of these regions are very minimal, and it appears the various stakeholders have a problem with the name. They propose that it should rather be referred to as the Southern Development Authority, instead of Coastal Development Authority,” he said, while supporting the motion during the second reading of the Coastal Development Authority bill on the Floor of the House.

[contextly_sidebar id=”meUiTi5IEmD8kgnUCgk0Hbxly3040ISa”]Richard Quashigah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Keta, further stated that, the implementation of the programmes of the Authority must not be politicized.

“We believe strongly that, one of the challenges that have bedeviled the forward march of this nation has been politicization of almost all the institutions that we have in this country. With this development authority, it appears it gives too much power that a president needs in that, the appointment to the board largely falls within the domain of the president.”

“That clearly will pose a challenge to ensuring that this is a non-partisan authority, either than that, it will be a replica of what has been happening in the past – where members of the board will end up being political appointees which will not auger well for this authority and therefore it will be pertinent to insulate the board and the authority from political influence,” he added.

Parliament is currently considering bills for the establishment of the Coastal, Middle and Northern Belt Development Authorities, which according to government, will be key in carrying out some audacious social intervention promises made by President Nana Akufo-Addo, with particular mention of the the one million dollars for every constituency pledge.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The late Obeng held various political and public positions in Ghana and worked closely with many politicians from both sides of the divide.

Mr Obeng served in the Rawlings administration and was a senior advisor to the late President John Mills and continued in a similar role under current President, John Mahama.

PV believed in Ghana – Nana Ato Dadzie

A former Chief of Staff under the Rawlings administration, Nana Ato Dadzie on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday stated that Ghana has lost a gem.

According to him, Mr. Obeng lived all his life in the public service and greatly contributed to the development of the nation.

“To think that he started as a private man, a private engineer and drifted into government…PV was a leader of the pack…he pulled all of us together, he developed ideas and moved the country forward,” he recalled.

He remarked that during the PNDC era, Mr. Obeng played a crucial role to move the country forward despite the challenges and hardships Ghanaians were experiencing.

Mr. Dadzie said the late PV Obeng was a firm believer in Ghana, “he was a patriot, a nationalist; he believed that there was a brighter future for Ghana. When you look back today at how far we’ve come, we are proud that we served.”

He further described the late senior presidential advisor  as “a consensus man, a bridge builder, he was the type of person who could rally people round and push us to forget our pain…and just move on.”

PV was not an extremist – John Ndebugri

A former PNDC secretary for the Northern Region, John Ndebugri said the news of the death of PV Obeng “was a shock to me…I just was speechless and I think that it is a tragedy for Ghana.”

He recalled that Mr. Obeng had earlier complained that “I [Ndebugri] am not in touch, I’m not in touch. Apparently, maybe he wanted us to meet for the last time but I think that it’s really, really tragic…and I still do not want to accept it that he is gone just like that.”

Mr. Ndebugri, who worked in the late PV Obeng’s office during the PNDC era, noted that his former boss was a moderate politcian who always brought people together.

These qualities, he said, is the possible reason “chairman Rawlings at that time relied so heavily on him because he was able to hold the middle ground and bring all forces to the center at least for negotiations.”

PV was a teacher – Moses Asaga

The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Moses Asaga on his part described the late PV Obeng as “an illustrious son of this country and I think that the NDC, government and the whole of Ghana have lost a baobab tree.”

He recollected that during his tenure as a deputy Finance Minister, “I worked closely with him; he taught me a lot of things, on how to manage the economy, etcetera.”

According to him, when the NDC was in opposition “I used to visit his home and then he will tell me what we must say or how to talk politely in Parliament, the issues that I must raise and that helped me a lot to have a balanced view as a ranking member for finance.”

PV had a huge brain capacity – Prof Akosa

A leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Executive Director of Healthy Ghana, Professor Badu Akosa said although Mr. Obeng death came as a shock to him, it is not surprising for strong looking individuals to die unexpectedly.

“I have seen this in my daily schedule of work. It happens all the time in this country. People either go to the loo and don’t get up, those who are lucky are those who sleep and don’t get up.”

The late PV Obeng reportedly had an asthma attack while driving on the Spintex road which resulted in his death but according to Prof. Akosa, Mr. Obeng had never complained about this illness “but I thought that he has been asthmatic for all these years and that he will be on regular treatment.”

He remarked that Mr. Obeng’s schedule was huge “because every time you have a meeting with him, he will eventually get there but most of the time, he will make a few detours before he gets back to you. But the fact of the matter is that he never complained.”

Prof Akosa marveled at the brain capacity of the late Obeng and his phenomenal ability to remember happenings in Ghana in years past.

PV had a digital mind – Dr. Nii Moi Thompson

An economic advisor to the President, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson also on the Citi Breakfast Show said since he assumed this position, the late PV Obeng “is the one person that I have developed the closest working relationship with.”

According to him, PV Obeng had “a digital mind. While the rest of us are always going in circles, he always went straight to the point.”

Dr. Thompson recalled that his last interaction with him was at the National Economic Forum and “his last words to me were, ‘you know that you owe me’ and he was referring to a report.”

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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