Politics of Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Source: Daily Guide
The Sampa Traditional Council in the Jaman North District of the Brong-Ahafo Region has vowed to campaign against the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) come 2016, accusing the Mahama administration of failing to tar the Sampa town roads as promised by the NDC.
Nana Kwadwo Massah, the Acting President of the Sampa Traditional Council, who spoke passionately on behalf of the chiefs in the area during an end-of-year meeting at Sampa with government officials in the district, noted that the Mahama-led NDC government has disappointed the people of Jaman North.
“The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, on a campaign tour in 2008 made a mockery of our roads and asked my people to vote them into power for better roads, but what we see now is an empty promise.
“The machines to tar our roads can no longer be found in the district, and this is why we would lead our people to campaign and vote against the John Mahama government in 2016,” he threatened.
Nana Kwadwo Massah who doubles as the Chief of Kokoa, near Sampa, and chairman for the meeting which was attended by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Daniel Nti Ateware and other government officials, bemoaned how the district assembly has over the years, since the time of late President Atta Mills, ignored the fact that Sampa is a district capital and needs to have its roads tarred to suit its status.
“The road has kept so long and no one is telling us why it has not been tarred till now,” he lamented.
Daily Guide findings revealed that the Sampa town roads were awarded to J. Adom Construction Company by the erstwhile Kufuor-led NPP administration before they exited power in 2008.
However, the NDC administration, six years after assuming office, is yet to work on the roads despite promising the people in the 2008 and 2012 elections that they would fix the roads when voted into power.
Some of the youth of the town had in early 2014 threatened to demonstrate against the DCE following what they termed as his inability to liaise with the sector minister to construct the roads.
Nana Kwadwo Massah said they calmed the angry youth because the chiefs were made to believe that plans were underway to fix the roads, adding that but it was now clear that government was not ready to honour its promise to the people in the area although they voted massively for the NDC in 2008 and 2012 because of the promise.