We are not from Burkina Faso - Sissala people fume over govt neglect

Thousands of Sissala people from four (4) districts of the Upper West Region have poured onto the various streets of Tumu to protest against what they describe as government negligence.

According to them, governments and development partners have over the years neglected the deplorable and almost non-existent farm access to road network in the four high-producing agriculture districts.

The affected areas include Sissala East, Wa East, Sissala West, and Lambussie districts.

This latest development occurred at the back of a government’s roads project which did not capture a single road in any of the four (4) Sissala districts.

Ghana received a grant of EUR €35 million from the European Union for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 670 km feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region.

The financial support is aimed at improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and marketplaces.

Addressing a large gathering of Chiefs and people of the Sissala area Kuoro Abu Diaka Sukabe Ninnia V, Paramount Chief of the Zini Traditional Area explained that a 2010 Ghana Living Standard Survey puts the Sissala West as the poorest district in the Region.

He added that the position of Sissala East, Lambussie and Wa East are equally not enviable and or proud to be associated with, though they labour as much to feed the Region and by extension the whole country on grains and cereals for the past two decades.

Mr. Sukabe insisted that available data obtained from the Regional Department of Agriculture shows clearly that Sissla East, Wa East and Sissala West districts are the three leading producers of maize and other staple foods in the Upper West Region and by Extension Ghana at large.

“We collectively produce a total of 103,474.42 metric tons of maize in the 2019 farming season alone (SIRD 2019),” he alluded.

“Therefore as the project is aimed at addressing roads to agricultural and marketplaces, then our respective communities too should have been given a priority,” he indicated.

The Chief also pointed out that a survey clearly revealed a consistent intent to neglect the four Sissala Districts over the years and with the current decision on the roads project of no exception.

He further expressed that the consistent neglect makes them feel like considering a further split of the Region in the near distant future.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs and people of the four districts have petitioned the Roads and Highways Minister to address their concerns within two weeks or they will advise themselves.