Tamale, July 1, GNA - A member of the Council of State, Kpan-Na Mohammed B. Bawa, has urged Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) to ensure that Ghana attained a middle-income status by 2020. He said as the administrative machinery of the central government at the regional level, the RCCs should draw up programmes and projects that would enable the country to realize the envisioned middle-income status.

Kpan-Na Bawa was speaking at the inauguration of a reconstituted Northern Regional Coordinating Council in Tamale on Tuesday. The Council has Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina, the Regional Minister as Chairman.

The RCC is a statutory body established under the 1992 Constitution and the Local Government Act 462 (1993), representing the administrative machinery of the central government at the regional level. Kpan-Na Bawa said the concept of a "middle-income" country was abstract to the majority of Ghanaians and urged District Chief Executives to describe the various programmes and projects envisaged under vision 2020 to the understanding of the people. He said the attainment of a middle-income status requires sacrifices and as such, the Councils should endeavour to make their programmes known to the people in advance, to enable them to appreciate the sacrifices they would make.

"This will help put an end to the scores of protest and demonstrations that characterize the implementation of any change intended to be to the advantage of the people," the Council of State member said.

Kpan-Na Bawa urged the RCC and the district assemblies to tap the expertise of the heads of decentralized departments and adopt workable strategies to tackle disease, poverty, hunger and illiteracy confronting the people.

Mr. Stephen Sumani Nayina, Northern Regional Minister, told the reconstituted RCC members to place a high degree of alertness on security matters and put in place systems that would identify early warning signals.

He urged the Regional House of Chiefs to ensure the early arbitration of all outstanding chieftaincy cases before it to ensure that peace was maintained. Mr. Moses Mabengba, the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, reminded the members of their core functions and urged them to work hard to enable the government to achieve its development agenda.