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Assurances by Deputy Chief of Staff Kenneth Wujangi that the deplorable roads in Mesawam, a community in the Asokore Mampong municipality of the Ashanti Region, would be fixed have not yielded any fruits, Nana Kwame Boateng, caretaker chief of Mesawam, has said.
The chiefs and people of the area have over the years complained about the poor state of the road network, a situation they say is hindering economic activities and effective health care delivery because vehicles are unable to send sick patients to the only clinic in the area.
Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Thursday September 22, the chief said: “The Deputy Chief of Staff was here three weeks ago and nearly wept upon seeing the nature of the road. He assured us that the roads would be fixed but three weeks after he left us, we haven’t heard anything from him. Maybe it is because they are campaigning but it is unfortunate how our roads have been.”
He added that attempts by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, to get the Department of Feeder Roads to fix the roads have been fruitless.
“The presbytery…has followed up to get the roads constructed but to no avail because staff of Department of Feeder Roads came to inspect the road but nothing was done about it,” the chief said.
For her part, Elizabeth Agyeman, Member of Parliament (MP) for Oforikrom, where the town is located, told show host Jerry Forson that it appeared the government was only interested in developing constituencies held by National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs while neglecting opposition strongholds.
She said: “Work being done in this country shows that if you are an NDC MP, they will develop you constituency. If you are not NDC, you will not have development. Mesawam is just a stone’s throw from towns in the Asawase constituency where Muntaka Mubarak is the (NDC) MP. All the roads in [Mr] Muntaka’s constituency have been constructed. Why is that all roads in Muntaka’s constituency have been constructed but those of neighbouring areas have not been constructed?”
She added: “The selective development of the government is killing growth of the economy in the neglected areas.”
