More than a hundred streetlights have been stolen in Navrongo, the capital of the Kassena Nankana Municipality. The streetlights, stolen in batches, had been installed within the Navrongo township to help improve the visibility and security situation in the area.
While some of the streetlights were brazenly stolen during the day, others were stolen at night. The situation has thus affected the visibility within the community.
Joseph Adongo, the MCE for the Kassena Nankana Municipal Assembly (KNM) said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show in April 2022. He said the unfortunate situation is a drain on the assembly’s inadequate funds.
“People are removing the streetlights. You cannot tell what they use it for. Sometimes people are so confident they come during the day and start climbing. The assumption [by the residents] is that these people are from the Assembly or that they are the ones working on the street lighting system”.
“I am saying this because the MP [Sampson Tangombu Chiragia] did some [fixed some streetlights]. When I came, I also did some. Also, when it was getting to Christmas, the government provided some for us to lighten up the place. They were removed. After we came back from Christmas, we redid them, and they were removed again. Those who are from Navrongo will tell you,” he said.
Speaking in a recent interview and giving updates on the situation, Mr. Adongo explained that not much has changed.
“It [the situation] has not changed. Recently, an assemblyman came to me and was asking for street lights so I asked him whether the streetlights we provided, whether it was the bulb or otherwise [that were the issues]. He [the assemblyman] said they were not there/ So I asked, where are they gone? He told me that what the people do is that some men come around and climb [and remove the bulbs]. When you go around Navrongo now, you would just see the iron there but the bulbs are not there,” he said.
The Assembly has issued a warning to all assembly members in the affected areas, reminding them that it would not visit their neighbourhoods to work on streetlights without first notifying them, and that anyone detected dismantling streetlights must be arrested.
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made this year in connection to the theft of streetlights.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
