No more promises - Voltarians tell NDC

The people of the Volta Region, the World Bank of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), have always accepted promises of development, as a condition for voting for the Party founded by Jerry John Rawlings, undoubtedly the most prominent son of the soil.

If the Paramount Chief of the Gbi Traditional Area, Togbega Gabusu VI, is to be believed, mere promises would no more be enough to ensure that the ‘World Bank’ delivers on votes in future elections. According to the Paramount Chief, the NDC had failed to deliver on promises made to the region since the advent of Jerry Rawlings as Head of State, and warned that the region would need concrete evidence of physical development to make it support the NDC at the pools.

Togbega Gabusus said people in the region were becoming uncomfortable with promises made by the NDC, which remain unfulfilled. The Paramount Chief, who is the immediate past President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, was addressing the 15th “Gbidukorza” festival at Peki-Tsame in the South Dayi District over the weekend, said the only difference between the former and current NDC-led governments was that President Prof. Atta Mills now leads from the front, while formerly, he was the second in command.

He mentioned the eastern corridor roads, which construction has been part of the NDC’s promises since the advent of the Fourth Republican constitutional rule. “Voltarians are fed up with promises that are not fulfilled,” he warned. The people of the Volta Region, the chief said, trusted in President Mills to deliver, otherwise Voltarians reserved the right to reject the party at the next polls, and warned that the people in the region would not be prepared to accept any apology for non-delivery on promises.

Togbega Gabusu raised the creation of another region out of the present-day Volta Region, which had been flagged a number of times by leading politicians of the NDC tradition, and stressed that if the Volta region is split, it would aid the administration of the area. The immediate past president of the Volta Region House of Chiefs debunked the notion that dividing the region would not make for unity and peace in the administrative area. Those peddling such falsehood, he said, are doing so as a political gimmick to hold back the development of the region.

The Paramount Chief appealed to the government to help minimize the incidence of armed robbery, because the menace created insecurity, and did not give a good image of the country in the eyes of eh international community.

In reaction, the Minister of Roads and Transport, Mr. Joe Gidisu, said the concerns of the paramount Chief would be carried to the appropriate quarters, explaining that the construction of the eastern corridor roads was initiated by the first NDC government of Jerry John Rawlings, which constructed a bridge at Damako in the Nkwanta-North District, before the government was booted out of power in the year 2000.

The Roads Minister assured the people of the region that the eastern corridor roads would open up the region for development, because other link roads would be constructed to link the region to the Northern parts of the country. Mr. Gidisu said as part of the eastern corridor road construction, a new bridge would be constructed at Dorfor-Adidome in the North-Tongu District.

The Minster said the Adomi Bridge at Atimpoku would be closed down in April 2011 for repairs. As a temporary measure, two new pontoons would be provided for the transportation of goods and services. The Volta Regional Minister, Mr. Joseph Amenowode, who was also not comfortable with Togbega’s statement, assured the chiefs and people of the region that President Mills would not deceive them, and that he would deliver according to his promises.

The Regional Minister assured Togbega that by the end of the term of the current President, he would have provided infrastructure for the region.