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Awulae Atiburukusu, Omanhene of the Lower Axim Traditional Area and the President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, who is the Chairman for this occasion
Hon. Regional Minister
Hon. Ministers of State
Hon. Members of Parliament
The Regional Coordinating Director, Western Regional Coordinating Council and Members of the Regional Security Council,
Hon. Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and Coordinating Directors
Nananom, Our Distinguished Traditional Rulers
Regional Heads of Departments and Agencies
Members of the Press
Distinguished Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We hope that the activities of today, through the abundant grace of the Almighty God our creator, will provide us an opportunity to account to the people of Ghana, the various policies, projects and programmes initiated and carried out by government to better the lives of our people.
It is important to know that since the assumption into office, government has adopted several measures to ensure that Ghanaians are adequately informed about opportunities that have been created and the means for our people to easily take advantage of these great opportunities as a tool for improving upon their lots and thus raise their standards of living.
Nana Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Policy Fair concept is another innovative avenue and channel for the government to account for its stewardship. The events and activities starting from today mark the beginning of yet another unique process of accounting to the people of this Region and Ghana, what government, through the vigorous implementation of the unique and dynamic strategies has achieved in pursuance of the Better Ghana Agenda.
The judicious use of the vast resources of this Region in particular and the country in general, is being displayed both pictorially and visually for all to see and to assess.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Ghana Policy Fair, the brain-child of the Ministry of Information is one of the many ways of bringing governance closer to the door steps of the people.
It provides an avenue for the people to assess the performance of government, and also make an input into the policy cycle, thus ensuring its enhancement and review.
The Policy Fair is to create a conducive environment for all stakeholders, specifically, policy initiators, implementers and beneficiaries to display the results of the policies and to dialogue and to evaluate the success or otherwise of all government policies and projects that relate to this Region.
This is so because since all the MDAs and MMDAs will be brought together under one roof, a one-stop access will be provided to assess the impact of developmental projects and other activities carried out in this Region for the benefit of our people.
We therefore wish to use this opportunity to entreat the general public and patrons of this Fair to share their views, concerns and opinions on all the policies, projects, programmes and activities of government in an open and frank manner. This would ensure a review of the policy cycle.
Although all government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are constantly in touch with the people of Ghana at various times, the Policy Fair provides a unique avenue for both interaction and immediate response to the concerns of our people so far as the initiation and implementation of government policies, projects and programmes are concerned.
It is relevant to note that the Policy Fair concept is directly in line with the vision and mission of our government to bring governance to the door steps of the people, particularly those at the grassroots level.
By hosting the Policy Fair in this Region, we strive to create a platform for the people in this Region to better understand and appreciate our governance system so as to take active part in policy formulation and implementation to ensure good governance and grassroots participation.
In doing so, we would be Building together in a Better Ghana, as the theme for this Fair states.
Nana Chairman,
We have no doubts on our minds at all that the Western Region is one of the most resourced Regions in Ghana in terms of natural and human resources. This can be viewed from the contribution by the mineral sector such as gold, while timber and cocoa represent the forest and its products.
To complete the list, this Region has also been blessed with oil and gas. In terms of the human resource, the Western Region’s contribution to the development of our mother Ghana can also not be underestimated. It is therefore a great honour to note that the Region produced the first President of the Nation Ghana, in the person of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
In spite of all these, we believe the Western Region still has great potentials that need further exploration and this development has the full commitment of government.
It is my fervent believe that this Policy Fair will help to open the doors to the hidden potentials.
Nana Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Even though the Policy Fair aims at creating a conducive atmosphere for our brothers and sisters in the regions to interact freely with their respective policy initiators, it equally provides an avenue for an effective networking, collaboration and partnership between the public and the private sector to effectively harness the economic potentials of this Region for the supreme benefit of its people.
I will therefore entreat operators in the private sector to take advantage of the opportunities that the Policy Fair offers to maximize the business and investment opportunities so as to create the much desired employment avenues for the youth of this Region in particular, and the country as a whole.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our MDAs and MMDAs are here to give an account of the resources that have been allocated to them and to demonstrate how these resources have been utilized to improve upon the standard of living of the people.
Let me congratulate the Regional Planning Committee for the organization of this Fair. Let me also congratulate them for as I understand the stands and the space for the Western Regional Policy Fair has been highly recommended to me to be the best so far.
The dialogue topics selected by the planning Committee are not only very interesting but also very relevant and educative and pertinent to the development of this Region.
I will therefore like to entreat Nananom, Civil Society Organizations here, my brothers and sisters in the public service, our partners in the private sector, students, researchers, and indeed the general public to take active interest in the four-day event, particularly the dialogue sessions and I believe in doing so, we would together be Building a Better Ghana.
Let me conclude by expressing my profound gratitude to the Hon. Regional Minister who has been supported by his very able and affable Deputy Minister, the Regional Security Committee, the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and Heads of Departments to see to the effective hosting of the Policy Fair in this Region.
We also wish to acknowledge the great organizational abilities exhibited by the Regional Coordinating Director and the hard working Regional Planning Committee who have left no stone unturned to ensure we have another successful Policy Fair.
From all indications, I am strongly convinced that we are once again going to witness not yet another successful Policy Fair, but the best since the best comes from the west.
On this note, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to declare the Western Regional Policy Fair duly opened.
Thank you for your attention and may the Good Lord Bless you all for coming.
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