Tamale, July 16, GNA - The Catholic Bishop of Wa, the Most Reverend Paul Bemile, has called on the government to pursue urgent and purposeful development policies to promote the economic growth of the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. He remarked that the three regions, which formed Northern Ghana, would continue to sink deeper in poverty and would remain a negative contributor to development of the country, if the poverty situation were not addressed.

Bishop Bemile made the call at a two-day workshop on NEPAD/APRM and Poverty Reduction in Northern Ghana and the launch of a Manual on "Good Governance and Development for district assemblies and other agents of governance in Tamale on Friday.

"Politics of development and progress should never be politics devoid of transparency and accountability. Good governance, development and progress totally rely on the efforts of every individual, institutions and government", he said. The clergy, chiefs, Members of Parliament, district chief executives, heads of departments and agencies, NGOs and academia from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions attended the forum, which was on the theme: "NEPAD/APRM and Poverty Reduction in Northern Ghana".

The Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), a church NGO dedicated to addressing the spiritual, social, economic and political issues affecting the people of the five Catholic dioceses of the North, organised the workshop with sponsorship from the Konard Adenauer Foundation (KAF), a German NGO.

The participants would brainstorm to identify human and natural resource potentials of the North and forward them to the government, the APRM and other multinational donors for implementation to enhance the economic and social well being of the people.

Bishop Bemile said TEPPCON and its partners had realised the crucial need to educate and create greater awareness among the people on the NEPAD/APRM agenda and how NEPAD/APRM could be used to develop the potentials of Northern Ghana with the determination of her people. He said the Catholic Church had always been concerned about the common good of the people and would continue to plan its programmes to the benefit of all humanity.

The Bishop reminded citizens of the three Northern regions that, it was their responsibility to harness the development potentials of the area for the common good of the people.

He urged the people to see the need to get actively involved in politics and demonstrate good morals in public offices.