The thoughtfulness of Members of Parliament from the Upper East Region is being questioned. This follows the seeming silence and disinterest in well-meaning residents’ advocacy and fund-raising efforts to construct a dialysis centre at the Upper East Regional Hospital.
A social commentator and media practitioner, Stanley Abopam raised these concerns when he spoke with Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today, Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
Mr. Abopam’s comments were in relation to the roles MPs are expected to play in the development of the Upper East Region.
“Ideally, they [MPs] are supposed to be advocates of development. Any other addons are certainly added advantages. So if the people of the Upper East Region are crying for a dialysis centre, I thought that one of them would have filed an urgent question in Parliament, especially now that the revelations we’re getting are very staggering; the number of people from the region who are dying from kidney related issues. Have you heard any of them [MPs] speak?”
“They are coming home to contest the primaries, how much they would spend, I do not know, but it would be colossal. There are 15 of them, and they all have a common fund. If all 15 decide, we are going to give Ghc10,000 each from our common fund, that is Ghc150,000,” he lamented.
Mr. Abopam again wondered why the MPs had not taken it upon themselves to raise funds in their various constituencies towards the establishment of the regional dialysis centre.
“Do you know the impact it would have had on this campaign for public support to get a dialysis centre if we had all 15 MPs speaking at their constituencies and urging people to contribute. Do you know the impact it would have had?”
The establishment of a dialysis centre in the Upper East Region is about to receive a huge boost as mining giant Cardinal Namdini expresses interest in purchasing 3 dialysis machines for the project.
The decision of the mining giant was in response to an appeal by the President of the Talensi Traditional Council, Tongraan Kugbilsong Nanlebegtang.
This came to light when the lead advocate for the project, Dr. Emmanuel Akatibo spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“Information from the Overlord of Tongo suggests that through his support, one of the mining companies has also pledged to provide us with up to three machines. They are also in the process of doing that. He [the Tongraan] mentioned Cardinal Mines,” he said.
Additionally, Charger Limited, managed by Emmanuel Borketey Bortey, is planning to invest about Ghc80,000 to ensure the establishment of a hemodialysis centre at the Upper East Regional Hospital.
“We have had other commitments from others who have shown interest in providing for us, the machines. One of these people [came about] through Albert [Azongo] of Dreamz FM. The CEO of Charger Limited was in town for the Made in Bolga Festival, so he pledged to provide us with one of the machines. As of yesterday, Albert asked that we provide a pro-forma invoice for him to purchase one of the machines.”
“… it is costing between Ghc75,000 and Ghc80,000,” he said.
Meanwhile, Endwells Pharmacy, pharmaceutical retail and wholesale company in the Upper East Region has redeemed its pledge of Ghc25,000 towards the establishment of a hemodialysis centre.
“From the launch day up until now, and based on the records I got from our director of finance at the hospital, as of yesterday [Friday, April 7, 2023], the statement they had from the bank, they had received donations and contributions to the tune of about Ghc80,000. The biggest individual pledge that was done by Endswell Pharmacy, which was Ghc25,000 has been redeemed.”
Dr. Emmanual Akatibo, the lead convenor for the project, disclosed this to Mark Smith when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show recently.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
