Alhaji Asoma Banda, Member of the Council of State, has called on public officials to loudly tell the success story of the Mills Administration.

He said a lot had been achieved by way of development projects and interventions like the free distribution of school uniforms and removal of schools under trees, a testimony of the “Better Ghana Agenda.”

It was important to help the people to appreciate this, he stated. He said the situation where Government officials kept information to themselves was unhelpful as it tended to fuel needless public speculation and gossip. Alhaji Bandah was addressing the opening of the Ashanti Regional Policy Fair, underway at the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi. It is a one-stop shop to showcase the achievements of the Government and the giant strides it is making to transform the socio-economic situation of the people.

Alhaji Banda also drew attention to the need to improve data collection for effective planning and implementation of policies and programmes. He invited the business people in the Region to take advantage of the stable economic environment to help create jobs and grow the economy.

He noted that Ashanti was blessed with enormous resources that needed to be tapped to better the lives of the people. Mr John Tia Akologu, Minister of Information, said the Mills Administration had demonstrated leadership foundations embedded in transparency and accountability. There had been remarkable improvement in infrastructure, science and technology and all sectors of the economy under its watch, he added.

He spoke of the Information Ministry's determination to strengthen the Government’s information machinery, saying, it could not leave the dissemination of information to the people to chance.

He said everything would be done to ensure that the people remained part of the governance system. Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minister, said the Region has had its fair share of investment by the Government to lift up the socio-economic conditions of the people. Apart from direct central government interventions, the metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies were working hard to bring development to the communities. He cited the construction of schools, health and sanitation facilities and the provision of water and electricity among other amenities.

The four-day fair involves exhibitions by the various assemblies, departments and agencies showing the government’s achievements.