Residents of Mamprugu Moagduri and North Gonja Districts protest over deplorable roads

Some residents of Mamprugu Moagduri District in the North East Region and North Gonja District in the Savannah Region last Thursday hit the streets to protest the deplorable state of roads in their respective areas.

The protesters calling themselves “ Mamprugu and North Gonja Youth for Development” embarked on the protest with strict adherence to the ban on public gatherings and the COVID-19 precautionary measures.

Numbering not more than 25, the residents trekked several kilometres from their various communities to a section of the Yagba to Kubori road where they addressed the media.

They are demanding the immediate completion of the Yagba to Mankarigu road which links the two districts-Mamprugu Mogduri and North Gonja to the rest of the country to improve on their living conditions.

Deplorable road

The 23km road which also connects the two districts to the Upper East Region through Fumbisi and Sandema and the Northern Region through the Kumbungu district is in a deplorable state, making it difficult for the residents to access healthcare in nearby health facilities and transport their farm produce to the markets.

Due to the state of the road, criminals take advantage of that and consistently attack and rob traders and other road users of their belongings. The worst experience is that the residents are often cut off during raining seasons which had become a major worry to them.

According to documents cited by Graphic Online, the road was awarded on contract to TASS KALIA Enterprise which is owned by the Member of Parliament(MP) for Yagba/Kubori constituency, Alhaji Ibrahim Amadu Tanko in August 2016. It was expected to be completed in August 2017, however, work on the road has since stalled.

Concerns

Addressing the media, spokesperson of the group, Mr Seidu Damba Abdulai Keita, said their protest was triggered by the government’s decision to award a portion of the road to a new contractor for which works were ongoing, while abandoning a larger portion of the road.

While commending the government for re-awarding portions of the road to a new contractor who had already commenced work, he blamed the government for paying lip service to the remaining portion of the road which was in a very bad shape and was very dear to the heart of the people.

According to him, residents in the area were living in fear and panic as armed robbers consistently attack and rob them due to deplorable nature of the road.

“This abandon portion of the road has suddenly become a danger zone, when we developed interest in the matter and decided to push for some answers from authorities it did not yield any result so we have decided to come out and pour our frustration”, Mr Keitta noted.

Ultimatum

He therefore gave a week ultimatums to the contractor, the Regional Highways Department and the Roads Ministry to ensure construction of the road before the onset of the rains, stating that failure to get the project done, they would embark on massive demonstrations and prevent all politicians from coming to the constituency to campaign for elections.

“We feels strongly about this project and demands immediate return to site by the contractor, if under the circumstance the contractor has no interest in the project we give him a one week ultimatum to relinquish the contract from Yagba/Kubori” he stated.

Reaction

When contacted, the contractor who is also the MP for the area said the government had not released funds for the project and gave the assurance that he would return to site if the funds are released.