Northern Regional Minister Ali Adolf John has pledged stronger collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to address resource and data-access challenges hampering the production of reliable statistics for development planning in the region.
The Minister gave the assurance when the GSS Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, and his team paid a courtesy call on him at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) on Monday, August 24, 2026.
The GSS CEO used the visit to raise concerns over resource constraints, particularly at the regional and district levels, as well as difficulties in accessing administrative data from some decentralised departments and institutions.
Dr. Iddrisu appealed to the Minister to facilitate stronger cooperation between the GSS, the Regional Coordinating Council and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure timely access to data needed for development planning.
He said reliable statistics were essential for identifying development gaps, guiding policy decisions, allocating resources and monitoring government interventions.
Responding to the concerns, Mr. Ali Adolf John assured the GSS of the NRCC’s full support and pledged to work with the Service and the MMDAs to strengthen institutional collaboration and improve access to administrative data.
He stressed that credible and timely statistics were critical to ensuring that public resources were directed to areas of greatest need and that development interventions reflected the realities of communities.
Dr. Iddrisu, who described the courtesy call as an important step towards strengthening relations with regional and local authorities, expressed appreciation for the support the GSS had received from the NRCC.
He also noted that Mr. Ali Adolf John was the first Regional Minister he had met since assuming office.
The meeting ended with a commitment by the two institutions to strengthen data-sharing mechanisms and deepen collaboration in support of evidence-based development planning in the Northern Region.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
