For the first time since 2008, hundreds of
residents of the Sherigu community in the Bolgatanga municipality have poured
onto the rough streets to express their anger at the National Democratic
Congress (NDC) government for taking their loyalty for granted.On
Tuesday, September 13, the people of Sherigu demonstrated over the government’s
failure to fulfill its promise of extending electricity to the area and also
rehabilitate the road linking Sherigu to Bolgatanga.
The leadership of
the community at a press conference after the demonstration, said the members
had been denied basic amenities such as good roads, electricity and the day
senior high school, despite their continuous support of the NDC
government.
“We are stating categorically that the most prioritized need
of this community is light. We have been demanding for light since the NDC took
over in 2009 and to date, not even a pole can be found here. The reason why we
are demanding for light is that there have been rampant stealing cases during
the night, which can eventually lead to robbery soon. Also because of the lack
of light, people sneak into our forest at night and deforest it,” a spokesman
for the community said.
The spokesperson added that several calls for the
rehabilitation of the Bolga to Sherigu road had been ignored, despite several
promises to get the road done. “……now the Rural Electrification Project is
currently on-going across the Upper East Region, but we are not part of it. We
are very disappointed in the National Democratic Congress government under the
leadership of President John Dramani Mahama. Since 1992, Sherigu has been voting
for the NDC; NDC wins majority of the votes from Sherigu community, but there is
absolutely nothing in the community which can be pointed to the general
public…….”
The residents of Sherigu have threatened that if they were not
connected to the national grid before December 7, they would vote massively
against the NDC and President John Dramani Mahama. |
