The Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako-Atta suffered the ritual brunt that commuters in the Sissala municipality and district go through on the bumpy and deplorable roads in the enclave when the land cruiser he was traveling in had a flat tire. The minister had to alight from the marooned air-conditioned car for a jaded and weak wooden bench kept in small shades of the sun whilst his driver replaced the punctured tire.
The tour of the roads and highways minister to the area forms part of his three-day working visit to the Upper West region to inspect ongoing works on roads that were washed away by violent flash floods on August 12.
The twin Sissala municipality and district is the food basket of the region. The reality however is that they have the worst roads in the region which has contributed largely to post-harvest losses.
Four months ago, they were a protest from Chiefs and youth groups from the area about the blatant omission of the enclave from a 35 million euro funded project christened farm access roads.
It angered residents of the area prompting protests from chiefs and the Sissala youth forum. The issue failed to simmer down when the Roads and Highways minister met chiefs and members of the Sissala Youth Forum. Paramount chief of the Zinni traditional area, Kuoro Abu Dyakah Sukabe Nania V, told the minister that they have been discriminated against and marginalized for a long and they were running out of patience.
‘‘We feel marginalized and were at the tipping point. I am expressing the emotion and sentiments of the people in the Sissala enclave. We feel we are not part. The disaster happened, mobilization came and all that they could do was to send the kit somewhere. Must we have to wait for disaster to happen before we choose,’’ he quizzed.
‘‘Our next-door neighbor, Burkina Faso, just about 12 kilometers from here, the roads are tarred to the Burkinabe capital but you look at our major trunk roads none of them is tarred,’’ he lamented. Roads and Highways Minister, Kwesi Amoako-Atta pledged the commitment of the government to work to give a facelift o to roads in the Sissala enclave.
—Yen
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