Parliament Approves Zongo, and Northern Development Fund Bills

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Zongo Development Fund Bill and the Northern Development Authority (NDA) Bill, have been passed by Parliament on Friday.

The Zongo Development Fund bill seeks to establish the legal framework for the implementation of the Zongo Development Fund.

Muslim students are expected to benefit from scholarship packages under the Zongo Development Fund.

$50 million dollars was allocated to the Fund, which was a line item in the 2017 budget.

Education has been noted as a priority area of the fund, and the stocking of libraries, rehabilitation of schools in the Zongos and empowering Arabic instructors are some of the expected interventions.

The NDA is one of three Development Authorities which the Akufo-Addo administration envisioned to speed up development initiatives nationwide.

The government also promised to establish the Middle-Belt Development Authority, for the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, and Eastern Regions; and the Coastal Development Authority for the four coastal regions.

The three development authorities will be under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), which is expected to receive an annual allocation of $275 million.

The Akufo-Addo administration had already indicated that, the IPEP will cater for its $1 million per constituency pledge.