Ghana’s Interior Minister, Mr. Mark Owen Woyongo has given the strongest indication that all security agencies under the ministry are alert, ready and well-resourced to provide maximum security for the country’s 2016 general elections scheduled for November 2016. He added that the Interior Ministry is committed to ensuring that peace and order are maintained before, during and after the much-anticipated elections.
Mr. Woyongo who is also the Member of Parliament [MP] for the Navrongo Central Constituency in the Upper East Region was speaking at an end of year get-together he organised for the National Democratic Congress’ [NDC] elderly party folks within the constituency aged 60 years and above. Invitations were also extended to people of the same age bracket from sister political parties including the People’s National Convention [PNC] and the New Patriotic Party [NPP].
Addressing the about 200 guests at the Mayaga Hotel in Navrongo, the MP called on the members of the general public to be security conscious and also volunteer information and tip-offs to the police stressing that “security is a shared responsibility since the police can’t be at all places all the time”. He noted that with the Police’s recent interception and confiscation of a haul of arms including assault rifles in Kumasi and elsewhere in the country, all security chiefs have been put on high alert to nose around and smoke out any criminal-minded individuals or groups who intend to disturb the peace Ghanaians were currently enjoying.
Explaining the essence for organising the get-together for the aged, Hon. Woyongo said he personally acknowledges the selfless contributions of the old folks whose hard work and efforts across various fields of work and trades added tremendously to the development of the Navrongo Township and its environs and thus deserved to be appreciated in any form possible. He observed that the Navrongo area has had no chieftaincy and land disputes in several decades and commended the aged for their good counsel to the youth, traditional rulers and other opinion leaders over the years.
Hon. Woyongo who is the sitting MP for the Navrongo Central Constituency is contesting in the 2016 general elections for a second term in Ghana’s Parliament. While maintaining that party politics had not thwarted development efforts in the Constituency, he disclosed that he had done enough to merit a return to parliament including an 8.5 million Dollar water improvement project currently ongoing in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality. He added that, he did major renovation works on the Kologo Health Centre while extension works will commence soon at the Natugnia Health Post to cater for growing numbers of clients who call at the facility.
According to the MP, the Navrongo-Gia road and that of Tono-Naworgnia received a major face lift while the Navrongo Township-Tono road has been tarred under his leadership. He further revealed that while a number of rural communities had been hooked onto the national electricity grid, he had procured over 80 sets of computers and their accessories for distribution to selected basic schools across the constituency so as to enhance the teaching and learning of ICT.
He noted that the various development projects the NDC administration brought to the Constituency over the past few years could not be chronicled in one telling and therefore, a documentary was being produced for screening to his constituents at an appropriate time.
The NDC’s Navrongo Central Constituency Secretary, Mr. Sebastian Achana explained to the media that the MP’s get-together party will be an annual affair and may rotate among several categorised age groupings based on consultation with the party’s structures.
BY PETER ATOGEWE WEDAM
DISTRICT INFORMATION OFFICER – BONGO
