UPPER WEST SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY (PAGE 22)

THIS year’s people’s assembly has ended in all the nine districts of the Upper West Region.
The districts are Wa Municipal, Wa East, Wa West, Nadowli, Lawra and Jirapa. The rest are Lambussie-Karni, Sissala West and Sissala East.
Common problems which featured in the forums were the issue of non-payment of allowance of people engaged under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), the menace of Fulani herdsmen, provision of dams, lack of teachers, high school drop out rate, among others.
However, one question which for once was conspicuously absent was the much talked about Bole-Bamboi main road.
Ever since the people’s assembly concept was introduced, there has never been an occasion without the mentioning of the Bole-Bamboi portion of the Baboi-Wa trunk road, and when it would be constructed.
Today, work on the road is almost completed, making commuters travelling on the road feel comfortable. With the exception of a few kilometres, which will soon be tarred, “this famous road” will link the Upper West Region to Kumasi.
Addressing the people’s assembly in the various communities, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Eledi, said “People in Kumasi will now stop asking where from these people too?” apparently referring to the dust, which hitherto engulfed passengers from the Upper West Region to Kumasi.
A questioner at one of the forums observed that with work on the Bole-Bamboi stretch of the road now nearing completion, what would happen to the Wa-Tumu-Sissili and the Sawla-Fufulso Junction road? These roads link the Upper West to the Upper East and the three Northern regions, respectively.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of Transportation, Mr Godfrey Tangu, however, assured the questioner that plans were far advanced to tar those roads.
He was happy that travel time on the Bole-Bamboi road had reduced drastically.
In fact it must be said that travelling time on that particular road has reduced from 12 to between six and eight hours, depending on the type of vehicle.
For example, travelling on a good vehicle such as Landcruiser, the journey could be done in five hours.
“Now I can travel to Cape Coast to visit my family without any trepidation,” said Mr Ekow Joe, a civil servant.
He told the Daily Graphic of his personal experience, when in 2002 the bus on which he was travelling from Accra to Wa got stuck on the Bole-Bamboi road around 7 p.m. and the travellers had to sleep in the thick forest until day time before getting another vehicle to continue the journey.
Another issue that constantly came up at the assembly was the delay in the payment of allowances of people engaged under the NYEP.
At Lawra, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General Department, Mr Ambrose Dery, had to take pains to explain the processes which had caused the delay.
Although the questioner was not happy with the explanation, the minister assured him that the appropriate authorities would be contacted to expedite action on the problem.
Perhaps what made democracy the winner of the day was the composure of the ministers and District Chief Executive (DCEs) in answering questions.
At Jirapa, the DCE, Mr Justin Dakora, after enduring a harsh criticism from a woman during an open forum, embraced her for being frank.
That was after the woman, who was apparently not aware that Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste management company, was a private entity accused the DCE for employing only party faithful.
The emotionally charged woman challenged the DCE to send her to the police station if he so desired since she had spoken her mind.
The woman’s behaviour sent the durbar grounds into laughter. But it is democracy that won the day.
One thing made the forums sometimes boring, and that was the large number of ministers who had to address the gatherings before question time.
At least, one would have expected that after the DCEs had given their welcoming address and the regional minister finished with his speech, the public would then be allowed to ask questions so that issues that related to the ministers’ jurisdiction could be tackled by them.
Everyone knows that at the national level, after the president had delivered his address, then followed the open forum. Ministers were only invited to answer questions that fell within their domain.
This must be replicated in the regions. After all, the programme is dubbed “the people’s assembly” and it is meant for the people. The politicians must be told in plain language not to hijack it from the people.