Catherine Afeku handed over the street lights to the communities
Four communities in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region have been connected to the national grid under the Rural Electrification Project (REP) to boost social and economic activities of the people.
The beneficiary communities include; Gwira Eshiem, Gwira Tumentu, Abrodiem and Gwira Wiawso.
Speaking at a colourful durbar held at Gwira Eshiem on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 to commission the project for the four communities, the Deputy Energy Minister in charge of power, Mr. William Owuraku Aidoo said the project forms part of a 350-million-dollar Exim Bank facility secured by the Kufuor administration in 2006 to extend electricity to rural communities in Ghana.
Mr. William Owuraku Aidoo used the occasion to express his profound gratitude to the people for reposing confidence in the NPP government led by President Akufo-Addo. He said the project forms part of government's commitment to connect the entire nation to electricity by 2020. He also commended the contractor and beneficiary communities for their maximum co-operation, which he said, contributed to the completion of the project ahead of time. He noted that the project would serve as a catalyst to accelerate socio-economic development in the communities.
The Deputy Energy Minister spoke of the determination of the government to continue to work hard to tackle the felt needs of the people and promised to connect other communities in the Municipality to the national grid. He used the opportunity to caution the residents against illegal connection of electricity and said anyone caught in this act would be dealt with and also revealed that government will soon establish a special court to deal with those who would be involved in illegal connection.
He also urged the residents to conserve energy so that they will not pay more electricity bills and appealed to them to pay their electricity bills to the ECG on time, disclosing that government in every month pays 25 million Ghana Cedis to the ECG to clear some of its huge indebtedness.
"I urge you to pay your bills to the ECG to function well because as I speak to you now, the NPP government is paying the legacy debt GH25 millions every month to ECG and this debt has been there since the establishment of ECG and if we don't pay our bills to them, we will go back into dumsor," he said.
Mr. Aidoo promised them to provide them with electricity meters within the shortest possible time "I have instructed the Municipal ECG manager to provide each household with a meter".
He also revealed that the NPP government under the watch of Energy Ministry has been distributed 500,000 electricity meters nationwide.
Speaking at the durbar, Mrs. Catherine Afeku who is the MP for the area and a Minister for Tourism, said the project was started by NPP led Kufour government in late 2007 as part of a 350-million-dollar Exim Bank facility secured in 2006. She said the NDC government rejected the project for eight good years without thinking about the good of these communities as part of Ghana.
"This project was rejected by the NDC government but we the NPP government have come into power again and have used less than two years to complete the project and connected it to the national grid", she emphasized.
She also added that she and the MCE, Hon Frank Okpeyen are going to work together to connect the other communities to the national grid. She called on the residents to make good use of the electricity to improve their living standards and urged them to rally behind her and President Akufo-Addo.
Mrs. Afeku used the occasion and donated 500 solar panels to Abelebo and Awulebo communities for their daily activities and said for the main time the government is yet to extend electricity to these communities. She used the occasion to hint that government was going to establish a cocoa depot in the Gwira area to store cocoa beans and also generate employment and revenue for the Municipality.
Speaking at the durbar, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon Frank Okpeyen used the occasion to thank the people of these communities and the entire Gwiraman for reposing trust in President Akufo-Addo.
Hon. Okpeyen pleaded with his people to have confidence in President Nana Addo and rally behind the NPP government to bring more developments into the Gwira area.
"This rural electrification project here was done by Weldy Lamont Company and we have to thank the company for the good job done. Electricity is very important and it is going to help hairdressers, it will also going to generate employment for the youth especially those who are going to establish internet café and other economic activities", he said.
The people should, therefore, support the government to implement programmes that would solve these development challenges, he said.
Awulae Angamatu Agyan II, Paramount Chief of Gwiranman Traditional Council who is also the President of Nzema Traditional Council and who was also the chairman for occasion expressed his profound appreciation to the NPP Government for the completion of the project for his people. He also commended government for the project to the communities and thanked Mrs. Catherine Afeku in particular for her achievements within the short time in office.
The Paramount Chief said this project is going to generate more incomes for his people and better their lives.
"Hairdressers, barbers, sew machine operators are now going to get electricity to do their work and it is going to improve their work", he emphasized.
"We are very happy to have electricity and we are now part of Ghana, God bless Hon Catherine Afeku and the NPP Government and this is a dream comes through", Awulea expressed his joys.
He also said the project will help students of the area to study hard and urged the youth to be trained as electricians and repair faults that would be occurred in the future. The Chief urged the residents, "Do not use the electricity for only entertainment purposes but use it for economic activities".
He appealed to the ECG to establish a sub-office in the area to ease their burden of travelling to the Municipal capital, Axim to pay their electricity bills and said land has been cleared at Gwira Aiyinasi for the office. Awulea used the occasion to express worries over the deplorable state of the road networks of the area and called on the government to come to their aid and fix it for them.
He pleaded, "Mr. Deputy Energy Minister, please when you go to Accra, kindly inform President Akufo-Addo about our roads that he plied on it during the campaign time that the roads are very bad and we call on the President to consider these roads as one of his topmost priorities because our cocoa beans are rotting".
"If our dreams will completely come through, then the government has to fix our roads for us, the road networks here in the Gwira area is our major problem", he emphasized.
Awulea also used the occasion to appeal to his people and the people of Nzema East Municipality to support Mrs. Catherine Afeku to develop the Municipal devoid of political affiliations.
At Gwira Tumentu
The Chief of the area, Nana Ayenam II, appealed to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and the Member of Parliament for the area to provide them with communication network for them to have access to information going in the country and beyond. He used the occasion to express his profound appreciation to the NPP government especially the MP for the area, Mrs. Afeku for providing them with electricity to improve socio-economic activities in the area.
Nana Ayenam II also spoke about the deplorable state of the road networks in the area and appealed to the NPP government to fix it for them. He also appealed to the government to establish a health center for them "We don't have any health facility in our area and anytime somebody is seriously sick, we have to put the patient on Okada motor and send him or her to Gwira Aiyinasi and also pregnant women sometimes deliver as a result of the road".
The Assemblyman of the area, Hon. Alluh Kwaw Gideon used the occasion to appeal to the government to create job opportunities for them and called on the government to assist them with scholarship especially the cocoa scholarship scheme.
"Our youth need job to do and we are also appealing to the government to give our youth with scholarship to further their education at the tertiary levels and let me add that if the NPP government is able to address our challenges especially the road, communication network and health facility, we will vote massively for them", he emphasized.
Mrs. Catherine Afeku pledged her total commitment to liaise with President Akufo-Addo and the MCE to address some of their challenges and urged them to rally behind the NPP government.
She also urged them to make good use of the electricity to achieve its intended purposes.
She emphasized, "The electricity that you have seen here came as a result of my hardworking and a benefit of voting for me as your Member of Parliament and we have to thank the NPP government under the leadership of former President Kufuor who extended electricity to Gwira area and first connected Bamiako to the national grid and President Akufo-Addo has come and we have extended to this area and we are going to connect other communities to the national grid".
The Paramount Chief of Gwira Traditional Council, Awulae Angamatu Agyan II, presented a fat ram and foodstuff to the Deputy Energy Minister and his entourage.
