Dr. George Adjei Henneh, a board Member of the Bonoman Institute, a Sunyani-based policy think-tank, has noted that the two Bono regions need a united front to advance the development and welfare of the people.
Speaking at the first edition, a series of consultative meetings leading to the formulation of a five-year development plan for the Bono and Bono East regions, Dr. Adjei Henneh observed, that the two regions do not have one voice to talk about the development issues for the people, the reason for which the Bonoman Institute has been established.
The consultative meeting, which was attended by chiefs, technocrats, the media and opinion leaders in Sunyani was under the theme: “Intentional setup of the Bono regions for real development.
“The Bonoman institute, a think-tank, will serve as the mouthpiece of the two Bono regions, working through research and innovation to rally support from residents both in Ghana and abroad to harness all the potentials in the area for the benefit of the people”, Dr. Adjei Henneh said.
He called on natives of the two regions to make meaningful contributions into the development plan for the regions.
“I call on all natives of the Bono and Bono East regions to bring on board all ideas to ensure that we have a comprehensive development plan to develop the regions”, he said.
The Founder and Executive Director of Affairs of the Bonoman Institute, Mr. Francis Kwaku Ansu Gyabaa, pointed out that for so many years there has not been any deliberate attempt to tackle the numerous challenges facing the Bono regions.
Participants
Participants agreed that there is the urgent need for concerted efforts to put the Bono regions up for accelerated development.
They expressed reservations about “how politicians have since independence taken the two Bono regions for granted and have only been interested in votes rather than addressing the developmental challenges of the people”.
The lack of standard sports facilities, even though many sports talents have come from the two regions came up during deliberations.
Participants argued that the Coronation Park in Sunyani, one of the few existing parks in the Bono region is deteriorating but ministers and members of parliament from the region and other opinion leaders have not taken any steps to address the problem.
The participants noted that while new sites have been secured for the establishment of new universities in other regions, in the Bono regions existing institutions have been converted into universities.
In 1996, the then Sunyani Technical Institute was converted into the Sunyani Polytechnic, which was later upgraded to a technical university whereas in other regions brand new polytechnics were set up.
The School of Forestry in Sunyani, which operated under the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), with plans to make it a fully-fledged university, was converted by government to the University of Energy and Natural Resources, forcing KNUST to relocate the School of Forestry elsewhere.
Currently, plans are far advanced to convert the College of Health and Wellbeing in Kintampo into a university whereas in other regions, new parcels of land have been secured to establish new universities.
Participants were worried that in other regions, brand new universities are established, but when it is the turn of Bono or Bono East regions, an already existing institution is converted.
Later in an interaction with the media, Mr Atta Akoto Snr, the Executive Director of Operations at the Bonoman Institute, said several activities and programmes had been lined up to enrich the proposed five-year development plan of the Bono regions.
He said that a similar consultative meeting has been scheduled for Accra while an online meeting with Bono residents abroad would also be held to solicit their input and support for the implementation of the development plan
