T2

Training Workshop on Public Procurement and Contract Management for Procurement Officers, MMDCEs and MMDCDs in the Upper West Region.

Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin opened and participated in a training Workshop on Public Procurement and Contract Management for Procurement Officers, MMDCEs and MMDCDs in the Upper West Region.
Procurement entities are required to ensure fairness, transparency and non-discrimination in the Public Procurement as well as effective contract management in order to promote competitiveness and confidence of all stakeholders. However, many state agencies face various bottlenecks in the implementation of the public Procurement Law 2003(Act 663 and Amended in Act 914), regulations and guidelines.
As a stop-gap measure, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council under the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Program organized a two day training Workshop on Public Procurement and Contract Management for officers in the Upper West Region to help enhance their knowledge and expose them to emerging issues in Public Procurement and Contract Management.
 
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih while opening the workshop on Thursday morning, appealed to practitioners especially Municipal and District Chiefs Executives to strictly adhere to the Public Procurement Act.
He noted that, he will not hesitate to offer up any appointee or officer under his jurisdiction found guilty of such accusations for prosecution.
According to the Minister, various projects were in the pipeline in the course of the 2022 fiscal year and beyond.
He added that as practitioners who will be in charge of the procurement and administration of these contracts, all officers should demonstrate professionalism and ensure that there is value for money.
Dr Bin Salih pledged the continuous support of the Regional Coordinating Council in organizing such capacity building sessions and continuous professional development courses for officers in the service to build their capacity.
afterrain2

Reinstating damaged road networks in the Upper West Region after the flood.

Reinstating damaged road networks in the Upper West Region after the flood. The pictures below are the current status of some roads that were Washed away by the torrential rain in the Upper West Region. This is the true picture of the Gouriyiri road between the Wa-Nadowli stretch after the flood and the current state after it has been reinstated. The other picture is also the previous and current state of the Yizeri road between the Nadowli and Lawra stretch . There are other roads in the Daffiama/Bussie/Issa District, Wa East and the Sissala East that were also reinstated after the flood incident.

Rain Affect Roads In The Upper West Region

This is the devastating nature of roads in the Upper west region after 8 hours of heavy down pour on Thursday 12th August, 2021.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih toured all the affected areas in region to ascertain the level of havoc on the roads. The Minister was accompanied by some officials from Ghana Highways Authority, Feeder Roads, Nadmo, some REGSEC members and the media. Some major roads leading to about six political districts in the Upper West Region were cut off by the heavy rainfall on Thursday leaving residents and travellers stranded . The devastation of the roads is intensive and need massive and timely intervention from Government to restore the roads for economic activities to begin. The havoc caused would greatly affect the economy of the Upper West Region especially at a time commercial flights are expected to resume soon at the Wa Airport
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Upper West Regional Minister

RESUMPTION OF COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO UPPER WEST

Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih commends some Ministers for the crucial role they played towards the resumption of commercial flights operation at the Wa Airport.
Commercial flights to Wa Airport in the Upper West Region began in October 2019, making the citizens, especially the region’s business community, very happy.
However, in March 2020, the sole commercial flights operators (African World Airline) halted their services to and from the Wa Airport, demanding that a Vodafone mast and other objects that obstruct their smooth operation (smooth take-off and landing) be removed before they resume operation.
Following the decision of the airline, the Upper West Regional Minister, Hon. Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, who was instrumental in the operationalization of the Wa Airport, initiated moves to get commercial flights back to the region. The Minister met with the Telecommunication Network that owned the mast and other parties involved to remove and relocate the mast. Vodafone Ghana agreed to do so but made certain demands that were not within reach of the Regional Minister and the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).
As a result, Dr Bin Salih had to lobby some top government functionaries and other relevant authorities for their support to get the issues addressed. Similarly, he led some eminent chefs from the region to meet President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House, and one of the concerns of the chiefs was the absence of commercial flights to and from the Wa Airport. They appealed to the President to intervene and get the issues addressed.
Accordingly, on June 2, 2021, the Transport Minister Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah visited the Upper West Region and met with the Upper West Regional Minister Hon. Hafiz Bin Salih took him (the Transport Minister) through all the obstacles impeding the smooth landing of the flights at the Wa Airport.
The Transport Minister assured the Upper West Regional Minister of his commitment to ensuring that the telecommunication mast is removed. He indicated that he would get the challenges addressed together with the Ministry of Communication and Digitisation, the Ministry of National Security, and the Interior Ministry.
Due to the multifaceted nature of the situation, the Communication and Digitalization Minister, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekefful and the Interior Minister, Hon. Ambrose Dery also played diverse roles in their outfit in getting the matter resolved.
On July 27, 2021, a check at the site of the Vodafone telecommunication mast located at the Kpaguri residential area shows that the mast had been removed, paving the way for smooth landing of aircraft at the Wa airport. Additionally, the Regional Minister supervised the cutting down of some big trees located close to the Wa Airport; those trees were obstructing the airlines’ operations.
Meanwhile, on behalf of the chiefs and people of the region, the Upper West Regional Minister expressed gratitude to the President, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Transport Minister Hon. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, Interior Minister Hon. Ambrose Dery, and Hon. Ursula Owusu, Minister in Charge of Communication and Digitalization, for their immense contributions to ensuring commercial flights return to the region after getting the mast and the other stumbling blocks resolved.
Dr Hafiz again thanked the Chiefs and people of the Upper West West Region and all stakeholders who contributed significantly towards resolving all the issues paving the way for the resumption of commercial flights in the region, which is expected within the shortest possible time.
The Minister is optimistic that the resumption of commercial flights operations at the Wa Airport will benefit the people of the region.
Dr Hafiz Bin Salih also indicated that he had written letters to all the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Transport, Ghana Airport Company and African World Airlines, to notify them of the removal of the mast and other stumbling blocks hoping that they resume their services as soon as possible.

THE UNICEF COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE TO GHANA CALLED ON THE UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER.

THE UNICEF COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE TO GHANA CALLED ON THE UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER.

 

Over the years, UNICEF has been supporting the Upper West Region to carry out key health interventions, particularly in the maternal and child health nutrition services including the expanded program on immunization, provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, provision equipment and capacity building for health staff.

In the past two years, the focus of UNICEF support is geared towards improving access to quality maternal and newborn health services in the Upper West Region. In this regards, a number of health facilities in some selected districts have been provided with Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) equipment and capacity of staff is being built in the area of quality maternal and newborn care.

In a brief remark to the Upper West Regional Minister in his office, the country representative of UNICEF to Ghana, Anne-Claire Dufay indicated that the purpose of their visit was to officially handover some of the equipment to the health facilities, assess the status of implementation of some of the agreed projects and interact with Frontline staff and key stakeholders.

On her part, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih assured the team of doing everything possible within his capacity to ensure progress in the development of the region and that, the Regional Coordinating Council would not allow retrogression in the activities of the region.

He indicated that, he would ensure that the whole of Upper West Region is declared Open Defecation Free. He said, currently it is only the Upper West Region that has a district been declared Open Defecation Free in the Country. He added that it was an indication that with efforts, the entire region would be declared ODF.

DONATED COVID-19 ITEMS WOULD NOT BE SOLD OUT IN MY REGION UNDER MY LEADERSHIP- UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER.

DONATED COVID-19 ITEMS WOULD NOT BE SOLD OUT IN MY REGION UNDER MY LEADERSHIP- UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER.

The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih has assured that various COVID-19 items donated to support the fight against the novel disease in the region would not be sold out by any institution in the region under his leadership as the Regional Minister. The Minister gave this assurance when a team belonging to an association known as the Freemason, Grand Lodge of Ghana paid a courtesy call him in his office today. The Grand Lodge of Ghana is an association and charitable organization in Ghana and the world at Large.

The District Grand Lodge of Ghana (EC) Isaac O. Hood in a brief remark to the Regional Minister, indicated that, as part of the fight against the novel Corona virus disease in Ghana, the charitable organization has been donating items to some health facilities to support the fight against the pandemic. Notable among places they donated to support the fight against COVID-19 include, the Mampong Herbal center, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research where they donated an ultra-low freezer and test kits to support their work. The next place the association donated some items was the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research where they donated another ultra-low freezer and test kits and finally a donation to support the Manshia Palace humanitarian project.

 

A team from the association has come to the Upper West Region to donate some PPEs to the Regional Hospital to support the fight against COVID-19. The PPEs include, Nose masks, Aprons and Hand sanitizers. The Minister, appreciated their kind gesture to the region, stating that the donation would go a long way to assist the Regional Hospital in the fight against COVID-19. He assured that the items would be put to good use, adding that ” let me assure you that COVID-19 items would not sold out in any Institution in this Region like it happened elsewhere in Ghana in a BBC investigative piece I watched today. I would make sure the items donated to the region to support the fight against COVID-19, are used for its intended purpose”.

THE UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER DR HAFIZ BIN SALIH APPEALED TO MEDIA PRACTITIONERS IN THE REGION TO FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION ON DEVELOPMENTAL BASE ISSUES RATHER THAN PAYING MUCH ATTENTION ON POLITICIANS.

THE UPPER WEST REGIONAL MINISTER DR HAFIZ BIN SALIH APPEALED TO MEDIA PRACTITIONERS IN THE REGION TO FOCUS THEIR ATTENTION ON DEVELOPMENTAL BASE ISSUES RATHER THAN PAYING MUCH ATTENTION ON POLITICIANS.

He indicated that, the focus of the media in the Upper West Region is on politicians, while there are other pressing developmental issues in the region that go uncovered.

He said most of the news items that emanated from the region were either on what the Regional Minister, a District Chief Executive or a Municipal Chief Executive had gone somewhere to do or say. Dr. Bin Salih said this when the new Regional Director for the Upper West Regional Ghana Broadcasting Corperation (GBC), Mr Christopher Asiedu, called on him on Tuesday, to among other things, introduce him to the Minister and consolidate the relationship between the GBC and the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).

“What I have observed about the media in the Upper West Region is that, the focus is always on us the politicians, most of the news items are either Regional Minister went and did this here or the MCE or the DCE”, he explained.

Dr Bin Salih, however, stressed the need for the media in the region to go beyond the politicians and to bring to the fore, some other developmental issues in the region. “Because of the absence of information out their people have wrong and negative perception about the Upper West Region. Therefore, it is your responsibility to tell the world that the perception that they have about the region is not what it is”, he explained.

Dr Bin Salih urged the leadership of the GBC in the region not to perpetuate politics of insults through their airwaves as that could mar the relative peace the region was enjoying. He advised all Media Houses in the region to blacklist anybody engaging in politics of insult from their stations. He is of the believe that, when media houses don’t entertain such people at their stations, they would not get the opportunity to be trading politics of insult.

He stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would engage in issue based campaign, comparing the performance of the NPP government to that of other political parties. On his part, Mr Asiedu said the media and for that matter, the GBC was mandated to project the region, play advocacy role, and provide information and education to the general public. He thus sought the support and co-operation of the Regional Minister and the RCC in the discharge of his duties to ensure the corperation achieved its objective.