We won't vote in 2020 because of bad roads - Adum-Banso residents to government

The Adum-Banso Collaborative Development Action Network (ABDAN), a development-oriented and citizen’s advocacy group, has given its strongest indication that residents of Adum-Banso and its surrounding communities will not vote in 2020 if its concerns are not addressed by the government.

This was captured in a petition after scores of residents of Adum-Banso in the Mpohor district demonstrated against the poor state of roads in the area, which also includes Adum-Dominase, Trebuom, Ayiem, Bopp Estate, Manso, Amuzukrom, among others.

Trucks carrying crude palm oil from the Adum-Banso Estates of Benso Oil Palm Plantation, were denied access to the town with residents explaining that President Akufo Addo on June 10 came to the district capital to cut sod for the construction of a 16 kilometer road from Kejebril to Mpohor, but are not too pleased with the action of the President by not extending the road to the Adum-Banso area.

An intervention by the Mpohor District Police has led to opening the road for normal business, but the residents have threatened to block the road again if they do not hear anything from government. A 21-day ultimatum has been issued.

As an Action Network, we believe our people have waited for far too long and it is time we acted in the name of fairness, and equitable sharing of the national cake. We cannot continue to be surrogates who are only used for electoral purposes and dumped afterwards. We, therefore, call on the government to take the necessary steps to correct the injustice and unfairness.

In the petition, the Action Network stated that Adum-Banso and its surrounding communities have never seen an inch of a road tarred in the area, apart from Kejebir to Mpohor, and, therefore, questioned why a tarred road to Mpohor should once again be tarred when majority of towns in the area have not had their roads tarred before since 1811". According to the petitioners "governments upon governments always put our roads under Phase Two, which has now become part of what appears to be a deceptive agenda of past governments which never materialized".

The residents said "We do believe the Road Ministry, and government representatives in the district did not brief the President well on the bad roads in the district, how they should be constructed, and how they are affecting health and economic activities in the area. We call on the President of Ghana, as a matter of urgency to initiate shareholders deliberation on this matter, and act on collective recommendations to ensure peace in the area. We are determined to put our destiny in our own hands, and will do what we deem proper to stop this continuous rejection and lack of development in our area".

The petitioners said "We also call on the government to act on our petition to change the name of Mpohor District to Mpohor Wassa Fiase Central District to reflect the cultural and ethnic composition of the district. Several petitions channelled through the Mpohor District Assembly to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development have been ignored, and this is the time to make our intentions known, that all assembly members in our areas will soon stop attending sittings to register our protest".

"We wish to state without any reservation that if our concerns are not addressed, in 2020 we will not allow any political party to campaign in the Adum-Banso area, and it is within our rights to do so, as a result of continuously failed promises on the part of politicians. The deception is too much, and we want concrete answers and resolution to the challenges, especially tarring of roads in our area.1811 is such a long time for a people to be patient, and we say, “enough is enough”, as we cannot wait any longer. We need action, and we need it now".

The residents said "We have voted in all elections with no benefit, and we solemnly declare that come 2020, we the people of Aduma-Banso and its surrounding communities, will not vote again as indicated earlier, that we will not even allow politicians to campaign in our areas if our concerns are not addressed"

"We are ready for dialogue, but we will not accept deception as a resolution. We have every right to take the necessary action to protect our interest as stipulated in our social contract with the government, and wish to bring to the attention of the good people of Ghana, the government, and the rest of the world, how politicians have left our people on their own through failed promises, and the need for immediate action", the petitioners added.