Stephen Yakubu, the Upper West Regional Minister, has assured the overlord of the Wala Kingdom of taking pragmatic measures to halt the wanton sale of state lands within the Wala Kingdom, particularly in Wa, to private developers.

The Minister also told the revered chief that he would ensure that state lands within the kingdom, which had already been sold, were retrieved if possible.

Yakubu said this when he paid a courtesy call on the chief to introduce himself as the new Upper West Regional Minister and to seek blessings and support in discharging his duties in the region.

It could be recalled that President Akufo-Addo, on April 4, 2024, reassigned the then Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, to the Upper East Region and Mr. Yakubu, who was then the Regional Minister for Upper East, to the Upper West Region as regional ministers, respectively.

Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, the Overlord of the Wala Kingdom, made a passionate appeal to President Akufo-Addo during his visit to the region on April 24, 2024, to intervene to stop the rezoning and privatizing of state lands within his traditional area, particularly in Wa.

The President, in response to the appeal, assured the chief and his subjects that he would instruct the regional minister to act on it promptly.

Naa Pelpuo reminded the Minister during the visit to his palace of the President's assurance to tackle the menace and the task given to the minister to act immediately to stop the sale of the state lands.

Yakubu informed the chief that he had directed the Upper West Regional Lands Commission, the state watchdog of the state lands in the region, to cease the sale of state lands in Wa with immediate effect or stop the allocation of lands for any purpose.

On other matters, the Regional Minister expressed commitment to working towards reducing the poverty level in the region.

He said the endemic poverty level in northern Ghana was man-made and could be eradicated through the action of man. According to him, education, self-determination, and the “I can do” spirit were key factors to break the poverty cycle in the area.

Yakubu, therefore, commended the President Akufo-Addo-led government for introducing “free education,” an intervention he said could take the people of the north out of poverty by ensuring access to education for every child.

“I also believe that we should be doing things differently to be able to achieve better results, because if we are just going to be doing things the way we have always been doing, and getting very minimal results, then we will not achieve the results that we want to achieve,” he added.

He urged the people to avoid divisive politics as that was inimical to their personal, community, and the region’s development. “Politics is about resources, control of resources. So, whoever is controlling that resource, we should be able to bring that person to develop ourselves. It doesn’t matter who becomes the owner of that resource. We should be able to tap into that resource to develop ourselves,”Yakubu explained.

Naa Pelpuo assured the minister of the utmost support of his palace to enable him to execute his mandate in the region successfully for the betterment of the people. He entreated the Minister to work hard towards transforming the fortunes of the region, including enhancing the economic status of the people in the region.