Chiefs and Elders of the Bonsawere Essikuma community in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality have decided not to take part in the December 7 polls if the lack of development projects in the community persists.
The community, according to the chiefs, cannot boast of any social amenities in the catchment area for 16 years and still counting.
Highlights of these amenities hindering the development of the Bonsawere Essikuma community include no access to mobile telecommunications network, unavailability of a marketplace, and poor road network.
The rest are lack of a community library to assist school children in carrying out their academic works and other research duties as well as a computer lab to be used for practicals.
Speaking at a press conference held at Bonsawere Asikuma on Monday, September 16, 2024, the Chief of Bonsawere Esikuma, Nana Ampong Kwasi II, expressed worry over successive governments’ continued neglect of the community.
According to him, they have not benefited from any developmental projects since 2008 despite partaking in the electoral process every election year.
“The first question is, are we not part of the country? We have voted for so long and have not seen any improvement in our community,” he noted.
Touching on the issues of telecommunications network, the traditional ruler said teachers, nurses, and other governmental workers refused postings to Bonsawere Essikuma due to the absence of network connectivity and the underdevelopment of the area.
“Everybody is aware that in this current world, one cannot live without a network. The world has become a global village and we are not part of that village because we do not have network. Teachers cannot do research work, they refuse postings to this community, students cannot do research, Nananom cannot make a simple call all because there is no network.
Communities around Essikuma Bonsawire have network, so we do ask ourselves, what have we done to the central government and the municipal or are we not part of Ghana?”
He emphasized the dire of the problem and disclosed that residents have to climb trees or mountains just to get a single bar of network signal to make phone calls.
Nana Ampong Kwasi II added “We do not have a market and it does not speak well of our community, traders are complaining of where to sell their product.”
The bad nature of road networks, he added has contributed to the hike in transport fares charged by drivers operating within the area.
The Chief of Bonsawere said they had resolved not to vote during the Elections of 2024 to draw the attention of the government to their problems and bring some improvement into the lives of the people.
“We hope that all our issues will be addressed, most especially our network, before the upcoming election; if not, no network, no campaign, no network, no vote,” they declared.
Some residents of the community, including a nurse who shared their frustrations with Angel News’ Nana Fynn, observed that the lack of network accessibility is having an adverse effect on quality healthcare delivery in the area, and to mention their standard of living.
“No network no campaign, no network no vote, no more calls on trees and no more calls on mountains,” these were some placards with inscriptions held by the residents.
On his part, the Assembly Member of the area, Maxwell Kingdo, is humbly urging the central government, the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, benevolence and individuals to come to their aid.
