The Chairman of BONABOTO-UK, Dr Herbert Bukari has appealed to Northern Ghanaians not to allow themselves to be influenced by politicians during the December 2008 elections in Ghana. He said all Northerners should vote for the party that has a demonstrable record of development in northern Ghana. BONABOTO, an acronym that stands for Bolgatanga, Nangodi, Bongo and Tongo, is a union of citizens who hail from the Bolgatanga, Bongo and Talensi-Nabdam districts of the Upper East Region. Speaking at a dinner dance on the occasion of BONABOTO-UK’s 10th Anniversary celebrations in South London, Dr Bukari urged all political parties to include in their manifestos a 10-year development plan as blue print for which they will be accountable to the people of northern Ghana. The National BONABOTO Chairman Ing Matthew Adombire who travelled from Ghana to grace the occasion told the gathering that BONABOTO was grateful to the government of Ghana for the establishment of the Northern Development Fund. Ing Adombire said association had written to the government to pledge its willingness to be part of any committee set up to administer the fund. Mr Charles Abugre, an Economist and Head of Policy and Advocacy with Christian Aid, in his key note address, regretted the long perpetuated north south divide in Ghana. He said Ghana cannot attain the Millennium Development Goals or its Middle Income status by 2020 if deliberate government policies were not put in place to bridge the inequality gap that has existed for over 50 years between the northern and southern parts of the country. The Deputy High Commissioner to UK, Mr Kwasi Quartey who stood in for the High Commissioner to the UK, acknowledged the ever widening gap between northern and southern Ghana saying it was unacceptable and that urgent positive actions were needed to address the imbalance. Successive governments after the first republic have acknowledged the imbalances that exist but have done little to address the situation. In addition Mr Quartey noted that research by the government and international NGOs had indicated that northern Ghana has a vast potential to become the bread basket of the country. Mr Simon Hughes MP for North Southwark in London and President of the Liberal Democrats Party who also attended the function said the UK government was aware of the poverty and the inequalities existing in Ghana between the North and South and pledged to visit northern Ghana to see things for himself during his second visit to the country in August and promised to advise the UK government about his experiences on his return. The Mayoress of the London Borough of Southwark, Her Worshipful Eliza Mann was pleased to be invited to the function and said that Southwark was home to a diverse community of migrants. Invited guests were treated to exotic northern Ghanaian dishes and spectacular cultural display of Frafra traditional drumming and dancing by BONABOTO-UK members led by Lenius Ataara who had come from Finland to join in the celebrations. Visit this site for more Credit David Atugiya Secretary, BONABOTO-UK