Some of the women pouring out their frustration at the press conference
Bread sellers and youth at Nsawam and Adoagyiri in the Akuapem South Municipality of the Eastern region have threatened to march naked to the Castle to compel the government pay greater attention to the construction of the Nsawam-Apedwa portion of the Accra-Kumasi highway.
According to them, the project has unduly delayed thereby adversely affecting businesses in the municipality.
The group questioned why the government should use huge sum of money to acquire five aircraft and abandon important roads like the Accra-Kumasi highway.
“Those of us selling bread here are losing our market because most vehicles pass through Koforidua to Kumasi and our bread end up going bad resulting in losses while some of the drivers that use the road have increased the fare because of the bad nature of the road,” Anita Yaa Obenewaa, president of Bread Sellers Association at Nsawam said.
The bread sellers and the youth expressed these sentiments at a joint press conference held at Adoagyiri on Monday.
They noted that with all these difficulties that the people in the area are going through the government is preparing to spend a staggering $170 million to buy those planes and as much as $17 million for the hangars.
“This is sheer misplacement of priorities because the ordinary people who voted for the government are really suffering with cost of living going up everyday. We cannot look after our children in school and so most of them are dropping out of school but our government can now afford to use such huge sum of money to buy planes for the presidency and some groups of people,” the group noted.
The bread sellers also pointed out that prices of flour and other ingredients used in baking bread have sharply increased on the market.
According to them, the price of a bag of flour has jumped from GH¢44 to GH¢80 in the last three years while price of a bag of sugar has moved from GH¢50 to GH¢90 within the same period.
The government, they explained, will better understand their plight and feelings if they march to the Castle completely naked with some of the wasted bread tied around their necks.
The women and the youth also expressed concern about the way in which some people and political fanatics have been making unguarded statements against the Chief Justice, Georgina Wood.
They called on government to ensure that the Chief Justice is given the freedom to perform her constitutional duties.
From Thomas Fosu Jnr, Adoagyiri