Floods cut Mpaha community from district capital

Mpaha, a farming community in the Central Gonja District in the Northern Region, has been cut from the district capital, Buipe, and its surrounding communities following continuous downpour in some parts of the region.

The road linking Mpaha to the district capital, Buipe, to Tamale, the regional capital, has been washed away by flood waters as a result of continuous downpour in the area making the road impassable.

Commercial activities have also been affected and vehicles are unable to ply the area while most residents are scared to use the road.

Mr Kamaldeen Alhassan, a teacher of Dedreport Local Authority Primary School in the area, nearly lost his life when he fell while trying to cross the road to school last Monday.

The flood waters carried away his bag which contained two laptops and a digital camera.

Mr Alhassan, who shared his experience with the Daily Graphic, expressed gratitude to God for his life and appealed to the government to repair the road.

Residents

Residents of the area, most of whom are farmers, said because of the current condition of the road, they were unable to transport their farm produce to the market centres to sell, making some of the perishable items, especially vegetables, go bad, while pregnant women could not access healthcare elsewhere.

The Assembly Member for the Mpaha Electoral Area, Mr Adam Abdulai, popularly known as 'Honourable Square,' said the situation had worsened as vehicles could no longer ply the road from Mpaha to Mpaha Junction to link the Buipe-Tamale and Buipe-Kintampo highway.

"An early morning downpour in the area yesterday, October 11, 2018 had further worsened the situation,” he stated.

He, therefore, appealed to the relevant road agencies and departments to go to their aid.

"Most of the residents in the area are afraid to move out because of the bad nature of the road," he stated.

The Assemblyman confirmed the incident.

Amina Salifu, a trader from Mpaha who sells on the main Buipe-Tamale- Buipe-Kimtampo highway, said her smoked fish had been rotten for two weeks now and she hadn’t been able to move from Mpaha to Buipe to sell.