We are ready for change – Tamale residents proclaim

“We are assuring you of our support and come 7th November you will be sworn in and you will be at the Flagstaff House. Our advice is that when you win power be sure to beckon the call of your people.”

These were the comments of Buglana-zachi Hanan Andani, Chairman of the Gbewaa Youth, a long time pro-NDC youth group in Changli, a suburb of Tamale when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP Vice-Presidential Candidate visited Changli on Sunday as part of a three-day tour of the four constituencies in Tamale.

Other members of the group who took their turn to speak, all expressed happiness at the visit and signalled their willingness to be part of the train of Change. They also indicated that they look forward to more of such visits from the NPP, Dr. Barhama Ibrahim Anyass and Dr.Bawumia.

“We are very pleased with Dr.Bawumia’s visit. This goes to show that we are all one people and that Politics isn’t about disputes but who you follow to achieve a greater goal for the country.What the Northern region needs is development. We want to assure you that we have returned and that we will be part of the change and victory that is coming”, members of the group said.

Changli, which until recently was a no-go area for the NPP and one of the NDC’s strongest support bases in Tamale, this time around wholeheartedly welcomed the NPP Running Mate and his team and requested that as a bond to establish the new relationship with the NPP, Dr.Bawumia should help the community to put up a wall around their KVIP (public toilet), when the NPP wins the upcoming elections and assumes the reins of government.

Aside Changli, Dr.Bawumia visited Gumbihini and the Tamale Central Market.

Dr.Bawumia Takes on NDC Record

Greeted by large crowds everywhere he visited, Dr.Bawumia, interacted with residents of the Sagnarigu Constituency on Monday on the need to vote out the NDC government and bring in the NPP in the November election.

Speaking at Sheshagu in the constituency, Dr.Bawumia stated that while elections are held to elect governments to develop the Nation and help alleviate the suffering of the people, the NDC government since 2009, had rather worsened the suffering of the Ghanaian people despite the unprecedented resources it had accumulated in taxes and loans.

He noted that under the NPP, the party, despite the meagre resources available, accelerated development across the country and introduced various social intervention policies like the NHIS, School Feeding Programme, Metro Mass Transit Buses, Free Maternal Care for Pregnant Women, the Capitation Grant, among other policies which benefited the people of Tamale and the North greatly.

However, he observed that despite the NDC having access to ten times the resources the NPP had, the NDC had managed to virtually collapse most of these schemes and also placed unbearable suffering and hardships on the people through the incompetent management of the economy – with sharp increases in utilities and other necessities and the unprecedented joblessness that affects the Ghanaian youth today.

Bawumia Returns to Sakasaka to a massive welcome

Among others, Dr.Bawumia also toured Jisonayili, Gurugu, Katariga and Malshegu, all in the Sagnarigu constituency; meeting the Chiefs, elders and people in each of these constituencies.

Before rounding off the day, Dr.Bawumia addressed a mammoth Night Rally organised in Sakasaka in the Tamale Central Constituency.

Dr. Bawumia reminded the people of the fact that he was born in Sakasaka and even attended the Sakasaka Primary School.

Speaking to rapturous applauds during the charged rally, Dr.Bawumia took on the NDC record in the North and called on all in the North to ignore the NDC propaganda and vote out the government.

“We were told that the leader of the NDC was from the North and so we should support him. But it is under this leadership that most of the social intervention schemes, which benefitted most northerners have collapsed. The Teacher Trainee and Nursing Trainee Allowances, which many Northern youth and Ghanaian youth in general benefitted from, has also been struck out, making it virtually impossible for youths from poor homes to become Teachers or Nurses.”

Dr.Bawumia also touched on the mismanaged SADA programme and expressed sadness at how millions of state resources had been pilfered in the name of Northern development.

“The government tells us that they allocated 200 million Ghana cedis to SADA. 200 million is not a small amount but do you feel the impact of the 200 million in your lives?” a question which drew a loud “No” from the people.

Continuing on SADA, Dr.Bawumia stated “instead of investing this 200 million in activities that will alleviate the suffering of the people, like in dams for agriculture; a few people colluded to steal this money through schemes like Guinea Fowl rearing, which we were later told that the fowls had all migrated to Burkina Faso. Today there remains virtually no legacy of SADA after the expenditure of 200 million Ghana cedis.”