Deputy Trade Minister swears in new board for Yoo Rice factory in Savelugu

Pinned summary · as of 07:14

A new governing board for the Yoo Rice Processing Factory in Savelugu, Northern Region, was inaugurated on Wednesday, 30 September, by Deputy Trade Minister Sampson Ahi. The members were given the job of turning the plant into a driver of local rice growing, employment and lower reliance on imported rice. Savelugu Municipal Chief Executive Alhassan Fuseini attended the ceremony.

What we know

• Deputy Minister for Trade Sampson Ahi inaugurated the board that will govern the Yoo Rice Processing Factory at Savelugu in the Northern Region.
• Mr Ahi told the new governors that the factory should serve as a vehicle for stronger local rice production, more jobs and a smaller import bill for rice, and he linked the plant to national efforts to cut imports. Both The Vaultz News and Kumasi Mail carried his remarks.
• Savelugu Municipal Chief Executive Alhassan Fuseini was at the event. Kumasi Mail reported that he urged the board to commit to the factory's growth and lasting success.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Vaultz News reported that the board has 11 members and is chaired by Lawyer Mohammed Alhassan, who promised open and responsible management and said farmers and workers would come before personal interests. No other report has confirmed the size of the board or the chairman's role.
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  Kumasi Mail listed the members as Mohammed Alhassan, Lawyer Mohammed Alhassan, Awal Suhuyini, Alhaji Alhassan Sumani, Hamza Saana, Alhaji Issah Issahaku, Alhaji Salam, Alidu Mutala, Mahafuzu Mohammed, Baba Musah and Hajia Kate, drawn from chieftaincy, farmer groups, agriculture, education, internal audit, the trade ministry and women's groups. This list comes from one report only.
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  According to The Vaultz News, Mr Ahi said the plant began as a Common User Facility built through cooperation between the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, farmer groups, youth associations, aggregators and government, and that the ministry will help find buyers and raise money for expansion. He also asked the board to protect the plant from abuse and enrichment, and to run it on commercial lines. These remarks were not echoed elsewhere.
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  Kumasi Mail reported that the factory was set up under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme and has parboiling, milling and packaging capacity. It also quoted Mr Ahi as saying that only maize outranks rice among Ghana's cereals, that each person now eats nearly 56 kilogrammes of it a year against roughly 12 kilogrammes in 1980, and that national demand for milled rice is about 1.8 million metric tonnes a year. None of these figures has been confirmed by another report.

Why it matters for Ghana

Rice farmers around Savelugu and in the wider Northern Region depend on a working processing plant to turn their harvest into a product that can be sold. How the new board runs the factory will help decide whether local rice competes with imported bags in markets in Tamale and beyond, and whether jobs are created in the municipality. Public money and community effort have gone into the plant, so the board's conduct is of direct interest to residents.