Modern Map - Savannah region map of Ghana GH
Ignoring technical advice, the incapable DCEs, alongside their “funfair-filled Regional Minister,” Hon. Saeed Muazu Jibril, have once again neglected to implement and oversee development initiatives crucial for improving the lives of their people.
Annually, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and its partners release the District League Table, a vital tool promoting transparency, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making in Ghana’s governance.
Established in 2014, the District League Table assesses development outcomes at the sub-national level, evaluating Ghana’s progress across all districts based on sectors like Education, Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation, Energy, Governance, and Child Protection.
This year’s rankings (2022), based on the assessment of the previous year, placed Hon. Saeed Jibril’s Savannah Region at the bottom with 48.0%, even below the newly created regions. This phenomenon has not changed with respect to the 2021 league table, if not worsened by the current 2022 analysis of the league table.
In Metropolitan and District Assemblies, districts like North East Gonja and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba secured unfavorable positions, echoing last year’s disappointing scores.
Despite efforts by technical officers, the embarrassing scores from the previous year persisted, raising concerns about the leadership’s effectiveness and the overall performance of the NPP in championing the development of the people of the Savannah region.
Despite seven (7) years of the NPP government, the Savannah Region, under Hon. Saeed Jibril (regional minister), have yet again distinguished themselves in a special way by their abysmal failure, always securing the last position year on year, with this year’s extraordinarily bad performance sealing it.
In education, North East Gonja and Central Gonja ranked 254th and 255th out of 261, respectively, contributing to the region’s overall last position at 48.0%. While other regions showed improvement, Savannah Region lagged behind, signalling “failed” leadership and the need for better performance.
Health and nutrition sectors witnessed declines, and in the water sector, the Central Gonja district scored 259th, while North East Gonja secured the last position, 261st, Sanitation in North Gonja District and energy in Sawla-Tuna-Kalba reflected dismal standings, with the Savannah Region consistently securing the last position.
Governance in the Savannah Region declined from 13th to 14th position, highlighting a trend of poor performance. The continued tendency of Hon. Saeed Jibril and his DCEs, and government appointees in the region, to occupy the last positions on the District League Table remains perplexing and unjustified, even though it is not surprising with their priorities on “inflating their egos” instead of having “boots on the ground” to work for the region.
Interestingly, for the same region in which the NPP “pride” themselves for spearheading its creation, one would think they would have had better outcomes from them as a party in government priding itself for the creation of a region, but it has become evident that they rather have “spearheaded” the creation of the region to be a laughing stock among other regions.
Despite the NPP’s unwarranted pride in claiming to spearhead the creation of the region, one would anticipate better outcomes from a party in government championing a new region. However, it has become evident that the region’s creation has made it a subject of mockery among other regions.
For a region as new as Savannah, there is a pressing need to improve and compete favourably at the national level. The disappointing scores supervised by Hon. Saeed Jibril and his DCEs, and government appointees in the region, demand condemnation from all concerned parties.
*Emmanuel Sadari Safo*
*Deputy Regional Secretary*
*NDC Savannah Region*
