We need hospital, potable water, good roads - Nkroful residents cry to government

Correspondence from Western Region:

The chiefs and people of Nkroful, the hometown of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region, have expressed their disappointment in the Akufo-Addo-led government for failing to develop Nkroful in the honour of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Nkroful is the district capital of Ellembelle but the community doesn't have a district hospital to cater for the ever-increasing population and respond to unforeseen circumstances from mining, oil and gas exploration in the district.

Road networks linking to Nkroful are in a very deplorable state.

It would be recalled that on August 18, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo visited Ellembelle to cut sod to construct all the deplorable roads in Ellembelle including town roads, but to date, nothing has been done about the roads.

"We all know that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah came from Nkroful here but we are lacking development, Nkrumah's name should urge various governments to develop Nkroful but that is not the case, we are suffering here in Nkroful", said the family head of Nkroful.

The family head of Nkroful, Abusuakpanyinli Senza Erzah expressed these sentiments when the Western Regional Correspondent of GhanaWeb paid a visit to Nkroful during the 114th birthday of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's celebration.

He said Nkroful was in dire need of a district hospital to provide quality healthcare for residents in Nkroful and around Nkroful.

He expressed disappointment in the Akufo-Addo-led government for failing to establish a district hospital in the area after the Chief had released a vast land to the government.

"When you come to Nkroful, we don't have a district hospital, which shows that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah came from Nkroful, there is no district hospital here", he stated.

He disclosed to GhanaWeb, "We released 41 acres of land to the Akufo-Addo government to construct a district hospital for us and as we speak nothing has been done about it, the government disappointed us, we thought they could bring their Agenda 111 hospital project here but they did not"

"As we are speaking the land we released for the government is still there, we need a district hospital, we are calling on the government to come to Nkroful to establish a district hospital here to honour Dr. Kwame Nkrumah", he appealed.

He also appealed to the government to provide the community with potable water and a community centre.

"We don't also have potable water and community centre, we are also appealing to government and others who have money to come to our rescue", he said.

Abusuakpanyinli Senza Erzah bemoaned the bad nature of roads in the Ellembelle district.

"Our road networks from Teleku Bokazo to Salman, Teleku Bokazo to Aiyinasi, and Asasetre to Gwira Banso are all in a deplorable state so we are taking this opportunity to call on President Akufo-Addo to construct our road networks for us because we are suffering, these bad roads are claiming a lot of lives", he stated.

On his part, the Chief of Nkroful, Nana Kwasi Kutuah V expressed his disappointment over how the hometown of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah has been neglected by governments.

He also expressed his disappointment over how some illegal miners have destroyed lands and water bodies at Nkroful.

He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to stop engaging themselves in illegal mining activities in the country.

He also called on the Akufo-Addo government to construct the bad roads in Ellembelle as soon as possible.

Some residents of Nkroful who spoke to GhanaWeb described Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a great man.

They took the opportunity to appeal government of Ghana to establish a university or a teacher training college at Nkroful in honour of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.