UNDERSTANDING SADA IS CRUCIAL TO ITS SUCCESS

(Daily Graphic, Jan 9, 2012, page 10)

IT is understandable why the establishment of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) was greeted with much delight among some sections of the Ghanaian population, particularly those from the northern Savannah areas.

The North has remained backwards for a long time in terms of development and this has been blamed largely on an old colonial policy which resulted in a situation where development efforts were centred in the south.

After independence, however, it was realised that the lack of development of the north was a bane to the progress of the country in general.

For instance, the low standard of education in the north meant a high level of illiteracy in that area.

The lack of development in the north also resulted in the mass migration of a large army of unemployed youth to the southern sector to seek job opportunities, and consequently leading to over population in cities like Kumasi and Accra, thereby eroding the development gains made in the south.

A number of interventions were therefore introduced to reduce the development gap between the south and the north. Although, many of these achieved some success, they were not enough to bring about the desired transformation of the north.

This re-echoed the need for a much more pragmatic, sustainable and well-strategized development blueprint for the north.

Many therefore heaved a sigh of relief when the government introduced the SADA Bill to parliament, which was consequently passed into law after there was general consensus on the relevance of this body.

The SADA Law (Act 805, 2010) mandates the authority to work towards bridging the development gap between the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone and the rest of the country.

This zone, which is considered the food basket of the country, comprises the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and parts of the Brong Ahafo and Volta regions.

Subsequently, the government constituted and inaugurated a board to oversee the affairs of SADA. A former Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Gilbert Seidu Iddi, was later appointed to run the day to day operations of SADA as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

So finally, here is the much awaited development machine for the north.

However, it has become obvious that many people are still dissatisfied. This time, the dissatisfaction is not about government’s inaction in developing the north, but the failure of the newly-established SADA to hit the ground running.

Those who are discontented claim they are yet to see any physical signs of the impact of this authority, in spite of the launch of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP).

Of course, how can you begrudge them? It was the daily language of politicians that SADA would offer a quick solution to the problems of the north, such as unemployment, poor road networks, ailing agriculture, environmental degradation, high illiteracy, name them.

As a result, many northern folk nurtured high expectations about the performance of the then yet-to-be-created SADA. Therefore, failure to see these promises materialise would ultimately generate some disillusionment.

In fact, some have also raised concerns over the failure of government to adequately resource SADA as promised earlier.

My role as a journalist however gives me a unique opportunity to approach this issue from a different perspective.

From my layman’s diagnoses, there is deep misunderstanding among the northern Ghanaian population – be they literates or illiterates – about the mandate of SADA.

This deep-seated misunderstanding has the tendency to affect the credibility of SADA and the government as well. It can erode public confidence in the ability of SADA to transform the north, and lead to a situation where people’s preconditioned minds tend to affect their co-operation with the authority.

SADA, as I understand, was not established to carry out development works all by itself. SADA would neither go to the farms to till the lands, plant and harvest the food, nor would it pick up graders to work on the deplorable roads.

If SADA needs to do some research or feasibility studies into a particular area of intervention, it would not be the one to do it. It would have to work with other institutions that have the capacity to do so, such as the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI).

Again, SADA is not a project that would elapse within a stipulated time and it is not a replacement to all other development programmes in the north.

It would also not be a replacement to the various decentralised bodies or to the National Development Planning Commission, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), the Ministry of Roads and Highways, etc.

Thus, the establishment of SADA does not mean that all resources and funds allocated for the development of the Savannah areas would be channelled to it.

In fact, my understanding is that SADA is an engine that has been built by seasoned economic and development ‘engineers’ with the sole purpose of fast-tracking the development process in the north, just like how the engine of an automobile keeps it moving.

It is a permanent body that would link up with all institutions that are working towards the development of the north and offer strategic leadership and direction to the development process in the north.

By so doing, SADA would ensure that all these institutions focus on the very essential areas and that there is coordination, but not duplication.

SADA would be the magnet that would attract development funds for the north. It would therefore ensure that these funds reach the institutions that are responsible for carrying out the various interventions.

It would as well supervise, monitor and ensure the success of these projects and also ensure the sharing of best practices.

So, in effect, the workings of SADA would ultimately do away with the current situation where the development process in the north is so haphazard and lacks direction.

For me, therefore, it thus not matter how much money government gives to the SADA secretariat, because SADA thus not need to carry out the interventions all by itself, except to ensure that funds are made available for the various initiatives.

Giving a lot of money to SADA at this crucial moment would be like putting the cart before the horse. The plans and linkages must come first, before funding is made available.

The point must, however, be made that the SADA secretariat requires some amount of funding for administrative purposes; but more importantly, it requires the support of the country’s political leadership and that of civil society and the private sector.

I dare say that the failure of SADA would start the day it begins attempting to ‘do it all’. Let us guide against this, otherwise we would get to a point one day when this body is unable to do everything and yet all others might have abandoned their roles and watching from the fence.