The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says the development of the Upper East, North East, Northern, Savannah and Upper West Regions are cardinal to the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“We want development of this country, we want development of the North, we have been left behind for a very long time, and that is why we want to make transformational policies to lift our people out of poverty.”

Dr Bawumia said when he paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Sirigu Traditional Area, Naba Roland Akwara Atogumbey III, in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

The Vice President is on a three-day tour of the Region to canvass votes in the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Dr Bawumia said the government of President Akufo-Addo had demonstrated in the last four years that it har the policies that will lift the country and the North as a whole out of poverty, “These are the policies we have been implementing over the last four years.

“We have seen them in the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs,’ One Village, One Dam,’ ‘One Constituency, One ambulance,’ the Nation Builders Corps, ‘One District, One Factory,’ all of the projects that we are implementing including; the Zongo Development Fund, the restoration of the teachers and nursing training allowances and all of that.”

He said the flagship Free Senior High School policy was not exempted, adding “These are all concrete policies that are impacting on the welfare of our people. The almighty Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam, the biggest investment in the Northern part of Ghana since independence has started.”

According to Dr Bawumia, there were ongoing construction of roads across the Region including; the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakum stretch of road, the Bolga-Naaga, the Bolga-Nyariga-Sirigu was also under construction.

“We are about development, and if you look at what we have done in the last four years, both in the Upper East Region and in Ghana, you will know that we have done more for the development of our people than the NDC did in eight years,” Dr Bawumia said.

The Vice President stressed that “We have done more in four years than they did in eight years we can concretely point out projects that we have done in the Upper East Region, 1,488 projects in the whole Region. We can point them out.

“Our opponents cannot point to that type of quantum of projects to affect our people. So we are asking for four more to do more. We have only started, there is more to do, a lot more, and we are asking for your support, the support of the people,” he added.

Naba Atogumbey III in his welcome address commended government for its policies and programmes for Ghanaians which had relieved most people from some financial burdens.

According to the Chief, the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ had increased food sufficiency in his Traditional Area, “Many people, especially the youth are now engaged in farming. This is unusual. It has helped to reduce youth migration to the South.”

Naba Atogumbey appealed to government to fix the drainage system in the Sirigu community market, especially in the rainy season which posed a health hazard to the people and said Sirigu market was haphazardly built without any layout for road networks.

He also appealed to government to upgrade the area into a District saying that the community had the needed human resources and infrastructure to upgrade the area to a District, and assured Dr Bawumia of their support as a community.