Mahama’s tour triggers road construction in Upper East

Ahead of President John Mahama’s visit to the Upper East Region as part of his “Accounting to the people” tour, roads that had been bad for many years and had caused many accidents, are being rehabilitated.

The president was scheduled to arrive in the region on Sunday, but had to be rescheduled for Monday morning.

President Mahama is expected to land at Zebilla in the Bawku West District in a helicopter, according to an itinerary forwarded to a section of the media.

It is not clear whether he and his handlers are avoiding the bad Bolgatanga-Bawku road or he wants to have an aerial view of the level of deprivation of the region.

For residents who slept early on Saturday night and did not see or hear the caterpillars working in the night, they woke up Sunday morning and saw the tarred portions of the roads scarified in a rush manner.

This has given room for observers to conclude that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is rushing to create projects for the president to either inspect or cut sods towards their construction in the region. In June the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) said the president had cancelled his tour of the Upper East Region because there was nothing to commission.

As at Friday, July 8, 2016, nothing had happened on those roads that were pretentiously being rehabilitated. The Stadium-Soe road had been bad with multiple potholes and had been a source of worry for many years. There had been demonstrations by youth groups over the danger the roads pose and yet nothing happened.

The SSNIT Traffic-Tanzue-Sokabisi road has also been terrible. Caterpillars were spotted on the Library Junction-Bukere-Stadium road, after years of deterioration.

For some residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE, it was a last-minute action to give the president something to do on his tour of the region.

Per the itinerary, President Mahama and his retinue would no longer arrive on Sunday, but on Monday morning and land at Zebilla for a sod cutting for works to commence on the Bolgatang-Bawku Road at Tilli.

He will inspect the Bawku Water Project and pay a courtesy call on Bawku Naba, before a proposed interaction with the clergy Monday evening.

On Tuesday, July 12, the president is expected to pay a courtesy call on the Regional House of Chiefs before rushing to the Fumbisi Valleys to inspect works on the rice fields and warehousing by the Northern Rural Growth Programme.