Govt will redeem promises — First Lady

The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has assured the people of Abam, a farming community in the Upper West Akim District in the Eastern Region, of rebuilding one of their dilapidated schools.

According to her, during the electioneering she saw a school which was built with mud; and promised to have it rebuilt as soon as possible.

The First Lady said this when the chief, queenmother, elders and a delegation from Abam and its surrounding communities paid a courtesy call on her in Accra on Wednesday.

The visit which was led by the Chief of Abam, Nana Abam V, was to thank the First Lady for renovating a dilapidated clinic for the community in 2016.

At the meeting, the First Lady said she was touched when she saw the deplorable state in which the clinic was when she visited the community during the 2016 election campaign.

She redeemed a promise she made to the people a few days later and the clinic was renovated and refurbished.

The First Lady urged the chief and people of the town to have faith in the government, noting that what the President and his government had promised to achieve would be delivered.

She said the workload was a lot but assured them that the government would redeem all of its promises with time.

Free SHS

Mrs Akufo-Addo also called on the people to take advantage of the free Senior High School (SHS) education to ensure that their children got quality education.

A Principal Elder of Abam, Mr Sampson A. K. Akyeh, who spoke on behalf of the chiefs and people of Abam commended the First Lady for her motherly love showed towards the people of Abam.

He said hitherto, the clinic was in a very bad state, forcing people to seek medical treatment from nearby communities.

The situation, he added, was disheartening as they had bad road networks which made it difficult to transport the sick, including pregnant women, to nearby hospitals.

He, therefore, appealed for the building of a staff quarters for the clinic so that they could get a resident doctor.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Upper West Akim, Mr Eugene Sackey, also commended the First Lady, saying the renovation of the clinic had helped to improve on the health needs of the people in the area, especially women and children.

He, however, appealed for the rehabilitation of the surgical theatre of the Adeiso Health Centre which served as the major point of referral for pregnant women who developed complications.

“Some of these referrals end up with complications to both mother and baby and sometimes the death of the newborn baby due to factors such as delay in transporting the patients,” he said.

He also appealed for a district library for schoolchildren and tertiary students on vacation in the area.

{loadmodule mod_banners,Nativead1}

Queenmother grateful

In an interview with the Queenmother of Abam, Nana Ama Amafuo I, she said she was equally grateful to the First Lady for the rehabilitation of the clinic as it had helped the women in the area to heave a sigh of relief as they did not have to travel to other areas to seek antenatal or delivery services.

She added that currently, the clinic could boast a midwife and six nurses although they did not have a doctor.

She also mentioned that the clinic had also been fitted with beds and other equipment, making it easy for mothers and their children to access the needed health care.