Gabriel Kwamigah Atokple, aka Chief Tanko, the Volta Regional Representative on the Council of State, has participated in this year’s Global Parliament of Mayors Annual Summit under the invitation of Mayor Alix Desulme (Ed.D) of North Miami, USA.
The summit brought together city leaders from different parts of the world. Discussions were focused on the everyday realities countries and cities are facing and how local leadership can respond. My interest was in how the government and the private sector can work together in more deliberate ways to create employment and improve livelihoods.
Using his experiences in business and policy engagement, Chief Tanko found the conversations clear and based on real-life situations.
According to him, participants spoke from what they had seen and experienced, rather than from theory- “the examples shared reflected the kind of thinking that leads to action, not just planning”.
Throughout the summit, it became clear that the people who are closest to the problems are often the ones best positioned to drive solutions. The value of involving those who live and work in the affected spaces cannot be overstated. It is not enough to talk about development from a distance. The real work takes place at the community level”, Mr. Kwamigah narrated.
He said, t𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀: 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 and ea𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.
“I return with renewed energy to continue engaging with both public and private actors to support ideas that lead to job creation and economic empowerment. More importantly, I believe the lessons and networks built during this summit can be tailored to benefit the Volta Region and Ghana at large. Aligning global knowledge with the unique strengths of our country presents an opportunity to attract investment, support enterprise, and drive regional progress.
The Volta Region has resources and capacity, and we hope that applying these global best practices will help position it as a model for inclusive growth and innovation in Ghana”.
