The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Yilo Krobo, Hon. Eric Tetteh today,
the 27th December 2022 successfully organised a “Yilo State Homecoming Summit 2022” which saw number
of prominent citizens of Yilo Krobo coming together to brainstorm about the development of the Yilo State.
The Chairman for the occasion, Ing. Kirk Koffi, former CEO of VRA in his acceptance remarks indicated the
need for everybody to come onboard to move the development of Yilo Krobo as government alone cannot do it
and said that the theme for the occasion was appropriate to achieving that.
The summit which was under the theme “Yilo Beyond Partisan Politics:
Harnessing our Development Potentials” was conceived by Hon. Eric Tetteh after he was sworn in as Municipal Chief Executive on 29th September 2021 to help him achieve his pledge to create jobs through industrialization, tackle sanitation and agriculture development leveraging on Yilo Krobo proximity to Tema and Accra vis-a-vis the huge resource base of the municipality. Therefore, the summit which was the maiden of its kind in the fourth Republic and expected to be an annual event, was to harness the potentials of all the people of the Yilo State irrespective of the partisan politics to inure to the benefit of all.
Hon. Eric Tetteh therefore, in his welcome address said that he considers the theme for the
occasion appropriate because some of them had realised that the way they had done politics over years had been divisive and it was based on his ‘conviction that, all the sons and daughters of this soil must be able to partner the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly at all times to develop Yilo State’. The municipality, the MCE said abound with both natural and human resources which must be harnessed for the collective development of Yilo Krobo. The MCE however bemoaned, that though Yilo Krobo can boast of number of resources namely; the Krobo Mountains, Waterfalls, Limestone, arable land for agriculture development inter alia, making it unparalleled among many of its peers in the Eastern Region, over the years there had been a paradox of development as the richness of the resources had not been matched with acceptable rate of social and economic advancement.
The MCE who was not oblivious of the fact that it was the responsibility of the Assembly to bring overall development and promotion of local economic development to the people, however pleaded with his people to support the Assembly as government cannot do it all. His plea for support was in the areas of health and education. In the area of education for instance, the MCE asked for support of facilities such as desks for students as this according to the MCE would help lessen the burden of the Assembly in order to tackle the huge sanitation problem faced by the Assembly as one of its greatest challenges.
Dr. Daniel McKorley, the CEO of McDan group of Companies who was the special guest of honour emphasised the need for development of children to drive the overall development agenda but was quick to caution parents in their quest to take good care of their children not to end up spoiling them. He indicated that the minimum education parents should give to their wards should be first degree after which the children must be able to find jobs to do before furthering their education. Citing himself as example, Dr. Daniel McKorley said when his son graduated from the university he made him took security job at his company, later messenger and then moved to logistics and it was when he was with logistics that he found an opportunity on one of his trips distributing fertilizers to the northern part of the country to invest in cashew production which he gladly approved of after considering his one page business proposal worthy and supported him. Dr. McKorley therefore pledged his readiness to partner Yilo Krobo to see the necessary development they yearned for.
The key note address was delivered by Prof. Joseph Kofi Teye, Director of Research and Innovation,
University of Ghana, Legon who dwelling on the theme of the occasion underscored the negative and positive sides of partisan politics.
He outlined some of the negatives as jobs denied qualified people because they were perceived as opposition,
non-continuation of projects started by previous governments, social interventions going one way inter alia and urged that the people of Yilo Krobo eschewed the negative side of partisan politics as the surest way to accelerated development. Prof. Teye admonished that everybody takes interest in the development of Yilo Krobo because government cannot do it all but quick to add, that the sustainability of the momentum generated to achieve the purpose of the summit calls for constant engagement to break the barriers of partisanship.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Seth Kwame Acheampong who also graced the program was happy about
the initiative taken by the MCE to drive the development of Yilo Krobo, and added, that government secured funding to construct a dual carriage road from Tema roundabout to Atimpoku that would open business opportunities to the Municipality. The Regional Minister however urged the people of Yilo Krobo to unite in order to drive the development of Yilo Krobo as he bemoaned some huge money that accrued as royalties from mining limestone in the municipality locked up in an escrow account due to some misunderstandings between Yilo and Manya as to ownership of the land involved and pleaded with the prominent citizens of Yilo Krobo to try everything possible to resolve the issue so that their share of the said money can be released for development of Yilo Krobo.
Solidarity messages as to how to work together to move the development of Yilo Krobo were given by
some prominent individuals of Yilo Krobo and among them were the immediate past
Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Magnus Kofi Amoateng, former Finance Minister,
Hon. Seth Terkper and the current MP of Yilo Krobo, Hon. Albert Nyakotey.
Presentations on some major investments and development potentials were also made by some accomplished individuals
namely Stephen Eku (a pharmacist) and CEO of EMIGHO Ghana Ltd, Stephen Djaba and
Nathaniel Attoh (Sports Journalist, Joy FM) who respectively talked about Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation,
Yilo State Industrial Park Development, and How to Develop Sports and Entertainment in the Yilo Krobo Municipality.
Before the commencement of the program, a documentary of development and tourism potentials in the
Yilo Krobo Municipality was showcased to the admiration of all present.