Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has urged regional ministers across to intensify their activities as a unified front to support President Akufo- Addo with hard work, dedication, commitment and sacrifices.

According to him, if Ghana has to move beyond aid to a self-reliant economy, the onus lies on all appointees of government “to harness our efforts, collectively and individually, to meet the demands of the present competitive global market and technological advancement.”

Dr Bawumia was speaking at the opening of the regional ministers’ conference in the Ashanti Region Friday .

“I encourage all of us to work hard on our respective roles towards national Interest and objectives as conferred on us by the 1992 Constitution. We must endeavor to understand the backstopping role of the Regional Level in District Governance and effective utilisation of the District Assembly resources. This is in consideration of the fact that the national economy is an aggregation of the district economies with the Regional Level as an Interface expected to ensure effective monitoring and co-ordination with high sense of proactive and participatory leadership,” the vice president said.

The vice president said, it is the duty of regional ministers to ensure the success of all government programmes and projects adding, “and as you do so, you must place special emphasis on the President’s Flagship Projects and Programmes. Ghanaians have amply demonstrated their confidence in this government and we cannot afford to disappoint them.”

The Vice president stressed that, in order to enhance bottom-up development approach, government has reallocated capital expenditure to ensure that each of the 275 constituencies in the country receives an equivalent of US One million Dollars to undertake basic infrastructure projects at the local level.

“These funds will be administered by the three new development authorities (Northern Middle Belt and Coastal Development Authorities). I am pleased to announce that parliament has gracefully passed the bills establishing these development authorities,” he disclosed.