Mr Ali Adolf John, Northern Regional Minister, has urged all interest groups in the region to put aside their political, religious and ethnic differences and work together for the accelerated development of the area.
He assured the groups of his commitment to collaborate with all, including youth, civil society organisations and traditional authorities to promote sustainable socio-economic development of the region.
Mr John said this on Monday whilst addressing the press at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council in Tamale to mark his first official day at work after being sworn into office by the President.
He touched on peaceful coexistence, saying he would engage with the traditional authorities and security agencies to come out with measures to prevent violence and ethnic conflicts in the region.
He said, “Let me send a warning signal to any individual or group of people, who will want to cause mayhem in the region to desist from such evil intentions because my administration will not tolerate such activities.”
He spoke about addressing youth unemployment, saying he would engage master crafts men to facilitate apprenticeship programmes and entrepreneurship skills trainings to empower the youth with self-employable skills.
Mr John said, “As I indicated during my vetting concerning our youth migrating to the south, I will work to ensure that the region is attractive enough to motivate them to stay and work towards the overall development of the region.”
He touched on the perennial water shortage in the Tamale Metropolis and other parts of the region, assuring that it would be one of his major priorities to ensure adequate water supply in the region.

