Chief of Kabonwule, Nana Awuratu Wura Acheakun II
Chief of Kabonwule, in the Nkwanta North District of the Volta Region, Nana Awuratu Wura Acheakun II and his elders, have rejected a contract awarded by the District Assembly to re-roof a class room block, which roof was ripped-off during a rain storm at an estimated cost of GHC40, 000.
The chief and his elders suspect the cost of the roofing has been inflated and that using GHC40, 000 to roof a single classroom block was unreasonable. To them, the money could have been used to build three classroom blocks with the community providing communal labour.
They have subsequently informed the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr. Oti Bless to intervene and protect the public purse from misuse. Nana Awuratu Wura Acheakun II, who made this known to The Chronicle at Kabonwule regretted that ever since they exposed the obvious corruption, the Assembly had developed hatred towards the community and that projects meant for the community are diverted elsewhere.
Nana further told The Chronicle that though they are a small community, they have strong School Management Committees (SMC) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) who would not condone any wrongdoing.
The Chief warned that if discrimination by the government officials in the district against the community for refusing to endorse corruption continued, a special ritual would be performed to invoke the gods against the government.
Members of the Kabonwule community would also not participate in the November 7 general elections. Nana Awuratu Wura Acheakun said the community was promised a Community Health Post (CHP compound) but that was not fulfilled. This development, according to the chief, compelled his people to put up their own CHIP compound which is currently serving the community and the surrounding villages.
He continued that the chiefs and people would wait patiently to see whether any development would be brought to the community. According to him, the seven and half kilometer road to the District capital, Kpassa is very bad and that during the rainy season, it is very difficult to transport foodstuff to the market centers.
The PTA Chairman, Mr. Bright Emmanuel Akwetey, said teachers’ bungalows started by the government some years back have been abandoned. This has made it very difficult for teachers to reside in the community and that most of the teachers currently live at Kpassa and walk a distance of seven and a half kilometers to and fro school on daily basis.
Mr. Akwetey continued that sometimes the teachers refuse to come to school, citing tiredness, and that in such cases the children are compelled to go home.
The SMC Chairman, Mr. Victor Edudzi Amexo, on his part, said when the assembly awarded the cantankerous contract, members of the community were not informed and it was through the vigilance that they saved the state from wasting that substantial money.
When contacted, the Member of Parliament for Nkwanta North, Mr. Oti Bless said when the PTA and the SMC executives reported the development to him, he visited the community and was in support of the action taken by the community to stop the contractor from roofing the classroom block. To him, the amount quoted by the assembly was unreasonable.
Mr. Oti Bless said he was very surprised that one classroom block would cost GHC40, 000 (400 million old cedis) when the Assembly Member of the Area showed him a document that contained the amount. According to him, the action taken by the community annoyed the District Assembly so much that, for one year and 15 days, the classroom block was left unroofed.
The MP disclosed that Kabonwule and its surrounding communities were very strong areas of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and expressed his displeasure about the development. According to him, when he approached the Assembly over the issue, they disagreed with the amount but wondered why the roofing has not been done up to now.
The District Chief Executive for Nkwanta North, Mr. Martin Kudor, on his part told this reporter that the technocrats at the Assembly presented the amount to the Assembly which was approved and that the GHC40, 000 was meant for the re-roofing of four school buildings that have been ripped off in the District and not for the Kabonwule School alone.
