Bawumia’s kinsmen chase Akufo-Addo to complete stalled road projects

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in four Mamprugu constituencies of the Northern Region are on the heels of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to complete stalled road projects in the area.

At a press conference held in Walewale on Friday, July 2o, 2018, the party observed that the projects were initiated by the erstwhile Mahama led administration but were stalled by the current government upon the assumption of office and therefore want steps taken to complete the said projects.

The president is currently on a 7-day tour of the three regions of the north but the aggrieved leaders of the constituencies want him to ensure that action is expedited on the abandoned road projects among others to ease the discomfort they go through.

Read the full text of their release below;

PRESS CONFERENCE BY NDC COMMUNICATION OFFICERS IN MAMPRUGU ON THE ISSUE OF PRESIDENT NANA ADDO’S TOUR IN THE NORTHERN REGION, WALEWALE. 20th July, 2018.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Press, on behalf the teeming supporters of the National Democratic Congress in Mamprugu, we welcome you to this all-important press gathering to speak to very pertinent and teething issues that are not boding well for the citizens of Mamprugu.

First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the magnitude of work done in Mamprugu by the erstwhile John Mahama Administration. The John Mahama’s administration embarked on a solid and massive infrastructural Development in the Mamprugu zone, having realized the deficit. One key project that was very dear to the people of Mamprugu was the Walewale-Nalerigu road, a road reaching to the traditional home of the Mamprugu Kingdom. In the roads sector, the Government committed a lot of resources and time to upgrading most of the roads.

The tarring of the Walewale–Wungu road, which, as we speak, have been abandoned and this road, fortunately, happens to be leading to the hometown of the MP for Walewale and Deputy minister for Agric. Dr. Sagre Banbangi. Roads constructions were also ongoing from Yagaba to link mankanrigu and its environs in the North Gonja District, from Yezisi junction to Soombisi in the Upper West Region, construction of the mighty bridge over the Tuvuu river and Gole vallies that used to claim so many lives in the area as a result of its poor nature. Ladies and gentlemen, all the above-mentioned road projects have come to a halt due to the fact the current government has deliberately refused to pay the constructors to continue these projects. However, over ten (10) communities had been successfully connected to the district capital through feeder roads.

Added to these, the previous government successfully started the construction and upgrading of all the Walewale township roads such as the Tampulingu–Bokuduri stretch, the Zangum junction–Tampulingu road, the Kperiga road and many more.

Ladies and gentlemen, the press, the Nalerigu township roads that were started under Ex-president Mahama’s administration were halted only for the contractor to be compelled to come to the site when it was announced that the president of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was visiting the Mamprugu Traditional area.

However, ladies and gentlemen, we wish to appreciate the Honourable Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and MP for Nalerigu–Gambaga Constituency, Hajia Alima Mahama for urgently fixing the bridge on Nalerigu–Nakpanduri road when it collapsed, making movement difficult for the people that ply on this road.

The media, the president of the republic and his vice president promised at the Nayiri’s Palace, not once or twice of the construction of the Nalerigu–Gbintiri road, the press, as we talk, nothing has been done on that road, yet Gbintiri market generates a lot of Internally Generated Funds (I G F) for the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly.

On Education: ladies and gentlemen, the Namong Senior High in the Yunyoo–Nasuan District, the only Senior High in the district which was about 60% complete, has been left to rot under the mercy of the bush. This school, if completed would accommodate thousands of students from across the district to ease the pressure of seeking Secondary education elsewhere.

In addition to these ladies and gentlemen, there are still many communities including Nambonsu, komia, kolig and many more still without schools. Other equally important projects are the abandonment of the Langbinsi and Nasia Community day Senior High Schools.

The media, construction of a fully furnished boarding senior high school at Yagaba which currently accommodates over five hundred students. It’s worth mentioning that, every community has a basic school even though more is still needed. In the west Mamprusi municipality, other equally important projects in that sector were executed; mention must be made that ultra-modern office complex for the Ghana education office in Walewale, the huge infrastructural investment in Walewale Technical vocational institute and a host more. In the East Mamprusi municipality, many schools were built and two giant dining halls constructed in Nalerigu senior high and Gambaga Girls Senior High but these schools still lack assembly halls.

We will not also forget of the establishment of the Gambaga College of Education and the mounting of the Diploma and midwifery courses in the Nalerigu Nurses College.

Health - In the Mamprugu Moaduri district, before 2008, there existed only a health centre and two CHPS compounds in the area, but as we speak we added two clinics, five functioning CHPS compounds and several others at various stages of completion.

In the newly inaugurated Yunyoo/Nasuan district, there are seven functioning health facilities including three additional ones which are completed but not functional courtesy the JDM administration. The Walewale municipality and the East Mamprusi Municipality indeed also had their fair share of the cake regarding infrastructural investments in the health sector, some of this includes the upgrading of the Wulugu healthcentre, three completed CHPS compounds but not functional, five clinics and a lot more.

Rural electrification,; over seventeen communities were hooked onto the national grid by the erstwhile government and more than ten communities had their works at various stages of completion and Yama is a case in point. In Yagaba over fifteen communities have been connected to the national grid and many more were at various stages of completion but have been abandoned by the current government.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, five communities in Yunyoo/Nasuan district have been hooked on to the national grid and many more other communities awarded for execution but for the change of government, citizens of these communities still languish in darkness.

In the East Mamprusi municipality over twenty-five communities were hooked onto the National grid but as we speak, the Municipality languishes in perpetual darkness as a result of frequent outages which the VRA has no clue of and therefore needs the attention of the president.

We have taken note of the president’s visit and its accompanying funfair activities of sod cutting and inspection of ongoing projects.

In light of that, we are appealing to the president as a matter of necessity pay contractors working on the other equally important roads stated in this release for work to be completed.

Mr. President, whilst you cut sod for the construction of the Nasia/Janga road, which is dear to our hearts, we wish to remind you to redeem your promise regarding the construction of the Sakogu/Bunkurugu road, Bunkurugu through Yunyoo, the District capital, Namong, Tuna and Kulgona road which serves as a major road to the Baptist Medical Centre in Nalerigu.

This, if constructed would save the lives of our innocent pregnant women. We wish also to remind you to look at the Nalerigu/Gbintiri road which is the major road for the carriage of food items to all other parts of the East Mamprusi Municipality.

Ladies and gentlemen, so much has been said about the president’s much-touted and fancied one village, one dam, one this, one that, except with the one minister, several deputies. We in Mamprugu are yet to see these materialize, although NPP communicators are claiming it has started. As we speak, the five districts in Mamprugu have over five hundred communities and yet none of the so call dams can be sighted in any of them. We are therefore reminding our brother the vice president Dr. Bawumia not to forget us. We equally want to tell our brother that we need dams and not dugouts.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the people of Mamprugu have been beset with a myriad of problems and therefore require special attention.

Thank you for coming.

Imoro Abdul-Razak, Communication officer-Walewale (0245371809)

Alhassan Abdul-Ganiu, Communication officer-Nalerigu-Gambaga (0244699991)

Amadu Tia, Communication officer-Yagaba-Kubori (0249397352)

Emmanuel Gulari, Communication officer-Yunyoo (0245241554)