Despite the uncompromising stance and unbridled rivalry between the elite youth of GARU and TEMPANE which stalled the creation of the District Assembly in 1988 this subsequently became a reality in July 2004.
The bone of contention was simply where to site the district capital. The rest of the story can now be safely consigned to the dustbin of history.
Today, the Garu-tempane District Assembly in the Upper East region is fast gaining the accolade as the fastest growing and developing district, not only in the region but also in the country.
AGRO-BUSINESS
By and large, the apparent success story of the Assembly has been primarily due to the determination of the residents to bury their differences and to rally their support behind their political leadership.
The district, with a population of 135,467 and land size of 1, 2303 square kilometres is bordered to the east by the republic of TOGO, the Bunkpurugu Yunyoo district and the Bawku municipality and Binduri to the west. Like many other parts of the country, its economy is largely agro-business and proudly the leading producer of onion in the country.
If the Tono irrigation project had not been diverted from the largest Volta River enclave at Tamne with over 100,000 hectares of irrigable land for political exigency, the GARU-TEMPANE district would have by now witnessed leaps and bounds in its development.
Health, as we all know, is like water and life. To this end, one unprecedented strategy and singular “act” that no doubt catapulted the development of the young district was the procurement of ten (10) Nissan pick-ups at a cost of GH¢475,000 to equip the health facilities in the district.
This unique initiative by Mr Dominc Azimbe Azumah was to place premium on the life of people by ensuring that their health needs were adequately catered for incidentally, it was this veteran politician, Mr Azimbe, who was in the forefront of the struggle towards the creation of the district who became the first Member of Parliament in 1992.
Besides losing out in 2000, he is still the MP for Gare to date and it could therefore conjectured that his long stay and experience in parliament has brought stability to the district. That, no doubt, to all intents and purposes enhanced the accelerated development of the district.
At this juncture, it is prudent to peep into the past. Mr Emmanueal SIN-YET ASIGRI who was the first DCE encounted a lot of teething problems associated with new districts and as such could not achieve much.
However, a solid foundation and a giant take-off was provided by Mr David Adakudugu, under whose leadership the district witnessed phenomenal development. He is now the MP for Tempane constituency.
After cris-crossing the district to ascertain for myself the level of development, I interacted with the young and dynamic DCE who is now in the driving seat, Mr Albert Akuka Alalzuga on the development agenda. He was upbeat that the potential and prospects of the district were bright and positive and so the district was poised to see phenomenal development.
EDUCATION
He stated that having prioritsed health and education activities the Assembly in 2013 expended a total of GH¢703,120 on the construction of Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds.
The beneficiary communities included Dabila, Kuga-Shegu, Tarivago, Bulapielsi Akara And Dusbulga.
Under, an ongoing programme to remove schools under trees, a three-classroom block, office, store and toilet facilities have been provided to over 45 communities.
They include Bugri, Yabrago, Kugrago, Dusbuilga, Zamsribuliga, Yizidugu, and Ninsum among others.
In addition kindergarten school blocks have also been constructed at Yizidugu, Sumaduri and Kariyata.
According to the DCE, 35 communities were provided with boreholes in 2013 whilst the construction of a small water supply system for Basyonde at a cost of GH¢1,311,702.33 is ongoing. Communities that benefited from the borehole project were Dusbulga, Sinebaga, Kolbore, Kugashe, Winatinga, Nyarigatinga, Bugri dam view, Napadi, Kugrago/Zaari and Baranatinga.
The others are located at Pialugu, Sigure, Yapala, Sakparitinga, Zumadiaga, Kulburi, Biembog, Baatiyok, Busnatinga, Barboaka and Nabdug.
The rest are Yabrago Number one and two, Kugri Asaadukudug, Kpatia, Nisbuiga, Bimpiela Nolxz, Duadinyediga Waskukua, Koloko Chief Area, Bugri Central, Kpalsako Chapini tambalug and Vambara.
On sanitation, he said 10 institutional latrines have been built at the Tempane Senior High School (SHS), the Woriyanga and Bugri JHS, adding that an amount of GH¢345,529 was spent in the construction of five pavilions for chiefs at Kpatia, Kpikpira, Basyonde, Kongo and Worikambo, besides a guest house at Sumaduri and staff bungalow at Saligu.
Over 50km of feeder road projects are ongoing at Bugricorner – Taribago, Garu – Narongo, Gagbir, tempane and Tubong –Kpinkpanying.
Earlier, Mr. Alalzuga announced at the first meeting of the fourth session of the Assembly that the Assembly collected GH¢119,000 out of its projected internally generated revenue of GH¢180,000, representing 60 per cent of the projected expenditure of GH¢130,000.
Indicating that the Assembly had received its fair share of the national cake, Mr Alalzuga said, 56 communities would be hooked to the national grid this year and announced the construction of a-700 bed ultra modern District hospital which will begin in the later part of the year. He expressed confidence that the district has the potential to develop beyond its current status and called for greater co-operation of all stakeholders. By A.A. Mbord