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Opinions of Tuesday, 23 July 2019

Columnist: Charles MacCarthy

Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road making NPP unpopular

The deplorable nature of Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road The deplorable nature of Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road

One of the Constituencies in our country without a single tarred road is the Mpohor Constituency in the Western region.

This constituency was carved from the former Mpohor Wassa East constituency in 2012 and was regarded as new as it were. Politically, the Constituency has been loyal to the New Patriotic Party during elections. The party had been popular due to the fact that one of the founding fathers of Npp - Stephen Kraikue, hails from Mpohor constituency.

President of Ghana, Nana Addo, has a strong love for this constituency and Stephen Kraikue, who contributed so much to the establishment of this great party. The district was honoured when the President came to the district capital, Mpohor, to cut the sod for the construction of the Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road on 18th June 2018. This road contract was awarded to JPP CONSTRUCTION LTD, and the company was given 18 months to complete phase 1. However, a sub-contractor was seen on the road for some weeks, after which it vanished into thin air, and work came to a halt, abandoned, and the contractor has not been seen again.

This attitude of the main contractor and sub-contractor is gradually vindicating NDC members in the constituency, who said that the President's sod- cutting was nothing but a hoax.

This Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road is the only major link to the district. It also links the district to the Ahanta West and Tarkwa- Nsuaem Constituencies. But as a result of this poor road, commercial drivers continue to risk their lives and that of passengers.

The NPP is now ridiculed in the constituency because of the bad road, and the fact that the President came to cut the sod for the commencement of work. But nothing has been done after a year.

Questions being asked are that - Is it that someone is not doing his work well or the contractor has no respect for our hardworking president? Many people in the constituency, especially NPP members, believe strongly that the government is being sabotaged as far as this Kejebril-Mpohor-Adum Banso road is concerned.

The Roads Minister and President Akufo-Addo must act on this serious matter because the constituents are yet to know what has kept the contractor so long to start work. This lack of seriousness on the part of the contractor and lack of progress report are rendering the government unpopular in its own backyard as cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in the Mpohor district.

The dusty nature of the road had become a constant reminder to the President's sod cutting in 2018. Farming produce are left to rot in every harvest period because the road is not motorable and foodstuff cannot reach market centers. Tankers of Benso Oil Palm Plantation(BOPP), a company which contributes so much in terms of taxes, fall off and sometimes get stuck along the muddy deplorable road during the rainy season. And this is affecting the company's operations in the area.

The disappointment of the people due to the bad state of this road saddens many who meant well for the NPP government, but have kept bashing it every day.

The euphoria with which they met the President's sod cutting has dwindled with lack of progress on the road. They are respectfully calling for a change of contractor if that is the point of hindrance. They believe that is the only way the party can honour the late Stephen Kraikue (founding father of the NPP) and the people of Mpohor Constituency who have always supported the NPP. This dusty road is eroding support for the NPP in the Mpohor district.

The government led by Nana Akufo-Addo is known to be a listening government, and we believe that the cry of Mpohor Constituency will also be heard by this government.

The political leadership in the Mpohor district and JPP CONSTRUCTION LTD have not been fair to the President and the people of Mpohor Constituency because they have not seen much efforts from them. And they believe our President must act on this sad situation to give meaning to fairness through better political leadership. Doing so will also erase the erroneous impression about the President's sod-cutting that was to fix this major road from Kejebril to Mpohor through Adum-Banso to Benso.

Many people are losing hope in the NPP in the Mpohor district. This is why the government must act quickly to reverse the despair.