The chiefs and people of the Tumu traditional area in the Upper West Region have decried the deplorable nature of their roads and the refusal by successive governments to fix them.
Kuoro Rechard Babini Kanton, paramount chief of the Tumu traditional area, addressing the 5th annual Paari Gbiele festival said: “Successive governments have over the years used the bad condition of the roads in the area as campaign tool in their quest to win elections but renege on their promises to fix them when elected.”
“Over the years, governments upon government have always told us that the Wa-Tumu and Wa-Navrango have either been awarded on contract for tarring but the completion of the road seems to be a mirage. When at all shall we see the completion of these roads?” he asked
The chief said the Sissala area is noted for its high production of cereals and other food crops but most roads linking the communities to the district capital, Tumu, are in bad condition.
This, he noted is making it difficult for famers especially in the raining season to travel to and from their villages to purchase farm inputs and other requirements.
“There are instances where my people cannot go to the market centers to buy basic necessities of life,” he stated.
Kuoro Richard Babini expressed worry that in some cases, communities are cut off for months due to heavy rains.
The paramount chief therefore called on president Mahama to expedite action on the Wa-Tumu and Tumu-Navrango roads as he promised the people in his 2012 electioneering campaign.
This according to the chief will boost agric production and open up the area to the rest of the country.
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Abu K. Kasambata, assured the chiefs of government’s commitment to develop the area.
He said government is doing the necessary consultations to get a District Chief Executive for the Sissala East District assembly and appealed to assembly members to confirm the DCE when nominated.
Mr. Kasambata used the occasion to appeal to the youth in the area to eschew all negative tendencies and support government in its quest to develop the people.
He said: “Let us burry our differences and rally behind government because it is only in unity there can be development.”
The “Paari Gbiele” festival celebrated to mark the end of the farming season and to pray to the ancestors for a more productive on in the coming year. This year’s festival, though well attended,was without “Bayiila”, a war dance usually characterized by feasting on a raw animal to climax the celebration.
By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana