Poor Daboya-Mankarigu road hinders security, economic activities

The bad nature of the road from Daboya to Mankarigu in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region has been blamed for the inability of security personnel to respond swiftly to the recent violent clashes at Lukula, a farming community, near Mankarigu.

The clashes that broke out between two opposing Mamprusi groups at Lukula over the siting of a mosque in the area led to the death of two persons and the destruction of several properties running into thousands of Ghana cedis.

The disturbances could have been minimised or averted if the combined team of police and military personnel deployed had had easy access to the area.

Flooding

The Savannah Regional Minister and Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), Mr Salifu Adam Braimah, said this when he and some members of the REGSEC and journalists were unable to gain access to Lukula last Friday because the Daboya-Mankarigu road, which leads to the town, was flooded and impassable.

The regional minister and his team were on their way to Lukula to interact with the security forces, stationed there to maintain law and order but could not do so as a major stream close by had overflowed its banks due to torrential rains in the area and had taken over the road, cutting off Lukula from Daboya, the district capital.

He said the team deployed to the area was faced with a similar situation and, therefore, had to make a nine-hour detour through Damongo to Tamale, Walewale and Yagba-Kubori before reaching Lukula.

"If the road was in a good shape, the security forces could have used less than an hour to get to Lukula and could have prevented the conflict from escalating," he said.

Mr Braimah added that besides hampering free movement in the area, the bad road was in itself thwarting economic activities as farmers could not transport their farm produce to the market centres.

Remedy

When the question was put as to what the government was doing about the road, Mr Braimah said it had been earmarked for reconstruction and was captured in the 2019 mid-year budget review.

He said that road was one of the priority projects the government would be undertaking in the newly created region.

Mr Braimah, therefore, appealed to the Ministries of Roads and Highways and Finance to fast-track the processes for securing funds for its construction.
“Constructing the road will also open the area up for investors to venture into commercial agriculture," he said.

Security

The Savannah Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Enoch Adu-Twum Bediako, said the bad road network in the area was impacting negatively on security as the police and other security forces found it difficult to get access to some of the communities in times of conflict.

Meanwhile, communities along the Daboya-Mankarigu road stretch have threatened not to vote in the 2020 general election if the road is not fixed.