The Sene East District Assembly on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bureau of Integrated Development of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (BIRD – KNUST), towards rural development, at Kajaji, in the Bono East Region.
Mr Jerome Gmasombe Kofi Gyimah, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Sene East, said the MoU was to promote sustainable and inclusive rural development in the area.
The DCE noted that the partnership would be achieved through a university-community engagement model and application of knowledge and expertise in areas of education, research and capacity building.
He said the collaboration would focus on the development of proposals to seek funding to address identified needs of the district, and to produce an annual report on the status of rural development in the area.
Mr Gyimah stated that the agreement would help strengthen the institutional capacity of decentralised departments and agencies in the Sene East District.
“The five-year strategic partnership agreement, which is the first of its kind in the Bono East Region, will support informed programming and evidence-based decision making,” he said.
Mr Gyimah said the Assembly was committed to improving infrastructural and human resource development in the area, and appealed to the citizens both local and abroad, to contribute to the development of the area.
Mr Gyimah expressed appreciation to the Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Rita Akosua Dickson, team of experts and research assistants and stakeholders from BIRD, for their move to develop the rural areas.
The Director, BIRD – KNUST, Dr Ebenezer Owusu-Addo, said the partnership was key to the attainment of United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr Owusu-Addo noted that the MoU aligned with the university’s Vice Chancellor’s thematic areas of constructive agreement with stakeholders.
“The team, as part of the agreement, held a meeting with the various senior high schools in the Sene East District, to educate students on programmes offered at KNUST and their admission requirements,” he stated.
Dr Owusu said BIRD was a research centre in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at KNUST, which initiates, conducts and promotes multi-discipline academic and applied research on rural development.
FROM EMMANUEL ADU GYAMFI, KAJAJI
