Sekesua has no reception yet full of mobile phones

Sekesua, a farming community in the Upper-Manya Krobo District, has no telephone reception yet almost all adult citizens of the community own mobile phones.

There is also no electricity in the community so the people charge the batteries of their mobile phones in nearby communities at a fee.

Sometimes when their phones go off they have to take them to Asesewa, the district capital which is 40 minutes drive away, to charge.

Sekesua is home to one of the three vibrant and popular markets in the District and every Wednesday, which is the market day, traders and goods from all over the district and beyond find their way to the place.

Traders from Koforidua, Accra, Tema and Akosombo converge there to do business.

This reception phenomenon has been with the people for years.

They charge their phones and always have it on them yet cannot make or receive calls since there is no reception.

The entire district has challenges with mobile telecommunication and even communities that have mobile phone reception cannot boast of any good network.

Sometimes for a whole week people in some communities including Akateng, Sesiamang, Ahabaso, Dawatrim and others cannot have network reception, in short network reception in the district is determined by location and the weather.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) Media Auditing and Development Tracking Project Team being sponsored by STAR-Ghana, as part of its focus on developmental journalism, got to know this during a visit to the community to have first-hand information on the developmental needs of the people in the various communities.

For the over four hours that the GNA team was in the community, they could not make or receive calls neither able to send or receive text message.They were totally cut off from all contacts and communication.

This situation affects access to healthcare since the people cannot make even emergency calls to drivers they have arranged with to take women in labour to a health facility which is about six kilometres away.

The team noticed that the young and old, educated and uneducated alike all have assorted brands of mobile phones but are not useful in the community unless they move out to other communities where there is reception.

Mr Tetteh Ahertso, an opinion leader told the GNA that he bought his phone about five years ago but had never been able to make or receive a call whiles in his house or any other location in the community unless he moves out.

He said he could not make any contacts or have any information once in the community and sometimes he is not able to attend important meetings involving opinion leaders from all over the district unless someone personally come to the community to inform him.

Mr Kwaku Horsu, a farmer and trader told GNA that because of lack of communication he is not able to do effective business.

He said often his clients had challenges reaching him and out of frustrations call farmers in other communities to place orders for their farm produce.

Mr Horsu cited an instance where he harvested about 10 crates of tomatoes upon request from a customer in Accra when he was in Asesewa.

He said the customer was not able to come as scheduled but because he was at Seesaw, a community nearby, the customer could not reach him and so all the tomatoes perished adding that he was still paying for the loan he obtained to cultivate the tomatoes farm.

The Chairman of the Dademantsemei Union in the District, Mr Tetteh Narh told GNA that the people of Sekesua appeared to be cut off from the district and the entire world, a situation affecting their entire living conditions and livelihood as well and said something must be done.