1D1F Shea butter factory turned into a school in Wa

A project in the Wa Municipality that was touted as one of the factories being developed under the 1D1F programme has yielded an unexpected result. The Shea Butter factory that was under construction at Nakore in 2020 has since been turned into a technical training institute.

In 2020, the Municipal Chief Executive of the area visited the facility together with Samira Bawumia, wife of the Vice President to assess the progress of work. Following the visit, it was announced that the facility was 90 per cent complete and would soon be opened for use. However, three years after that colourful visit, the facility has indeed been opened but for an unrelated purpose.

According to Upper West Media, the work left to be done before the factory could be operationalized was the installation of machines per the words of Mr Issahaku Tahiru Moomin, the MCE for Wa. However, that has not been done and the facility now serves as a Technical Training Institute operated by the Nakore-Chansa Technical Institute. The factory building now hosts classroom facilities for training students in Woodwork, Cosmetology and other technical programmes.

A statement by the Wa Municipal Assembly in October 2020 said, “The Shea Butter Processing Plant was fully constructed whilst the machines are yet to be mounted. Work has completed on the Shea Processing Factory in Nakore in the Wa Central Constituency of the Upper West Region. This Factory is under the much-touted 1 D1F Policy being undertaken by the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government to industrialize the country. Installations of machines are ongoing and will soon be commissioned to start production.”

Meanwhile, Upper West Media is also reporting that a promise by the Regional Minister to help upgrade the Kperisi Shea Butter Processing Centre so it can be absorbed under the 1D1F has also not been realized. The facility has impacted its host community with the over 170-member run facility able to build a classroom block for Kperisi KG and a shed for the clinic in the area.