Youth of Chereponi to Demonstrate over 32 years of Neglected Bad Roads
Youth of Chereponi to Demonstrate over 32 years of Neglected Bad Roads
Chereponi, a fast developing District of the North East Region and hub of agricultural revolution with over 182 communities is gradually becoming a metaphor for neglect, no thanks to the deplorable state of the roads and decaying infrastructure.
As a result, residents, mostly the youth and motorists plying on these bad roads in the District have served notices of a mammoth demonstration to press home their demands for a fair share of the roads infrastructure cake from the government.
The protest is a response to years of neglect, which the youth claimed had not only resulted in untold hardship, but has also continued to impact negatively on their livelihood.
Sananu Zakaria is Secretary of the Chereponi Youth Connect who are leading the demonstration.
He told EXPRESSNEWSGHANA , in an interview via Telephone that the demonstration is the alternative means by which their message could reach to the government over the bad roads in the District.
According to him, all preparation has been done and the police have also been dully served with a two weeks advance notices.
Again, he said all political parties, the incumbent Member of Parliament, the Parliamentary candidates for the opposition parties, the District Chief Executive (DCE) and other key stakeholders have been officially informed of their intended protest.
The demonstration, Sananu said is non-political as the Youth leaders of all the political parties in the District are participating and that no one is their target to make him or her politically unpopular, stressing that the demonstration is aimed for the betterment of Chereponi and the wellbeing of its people.
Sananu confirmed that, barring any unforeseen circumstances,the collective interest demonstration, dubbed, “The People Protest” will come on on November 18, 2023.
The development needs of the District, the Youth Secretary said have been neglected in terms of the provision of road infrastructure by successive governments and that major roads that link the District to other parts of the country remained dusty for the past 32 years.
Some of the roads that have been awarded on contract for years, he noted, remained as they were and that it is only elections season that the contractors are seen on the project site but it’s abandoned the work soon after the elections.
Beside the health implication associated with the dusty roads, Sananu said the bad roads are also affecting economic activities, especially agriculture as farmers records post harvest losses as a result of their inability to transport their produces to the market centres.
He added that, criminals especially highway robbers have also taken advantage of the bad roads and launch attacks on traders and travellers.
“I can say , for the past 32 years or so, under the Fourth Republic, Chereponi has not received any form of face lift on our roads.”
“Major roads, especially the main Chereponi to Yendi, Chereponi to Saboba, Chereponi to Nalerigu and Chereponi to (Mankango) toTogo, are all in a deplorable state.” Economic activities are badly affected in the District. Farmers and traders cannot access the markets with their farm produces and trading goods respectively.”
“The worst of all is the fact that, criminals especially armed robbers take advantage of the bad and attack passengers, our mothers who travel on these roads to and from the markets.”
“So the upcoming demonstration is to show that we are really not happy that successive governments have decided to treat us this way,” Sananu lamented.
He said the Chiefs and people of Chereponi have made several appeals to the government and the incumbent MP, Hon Abdul-Razak Tahidu followed up with questions to the sector Minister on the floor of Parliament but the people are yet to see any proactive response from the government.
Despite the economic potential of Chereponi in terms of its contribution to the food basket of the country, the youth said there is little or nothing to show for it as the needs of the residents remained neglected.
The population of Chereponi District is over 53,394 representing 5.2 percent of the region.
The youthful population of the district is about 50.3 percent of persons below 15 years old, depicting a broad base population pyramid that tapers off with a small proportion of 5.6 percent of elderly persons (60 years and above).
About 85 percent of the entire population of Chereponi lives in the rural localities with over 182 communities.
The major economic activities include farming, livestock, trading and other services.
The District shares boundaries with four Districts including Gushegu District to the West; Bunkpurugu -Yunyoo District to the North; Saboba and Yendi Districts to the South-West and the Republic of Togo and to the East is bordered by River Oti.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
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