The Manyoro community in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal area is calling on the government to urgently intervene after years of neglect of its road network and broken bridges, according to Pe Clement Atudipare, speaking on behalf of the paramount chief.
He said the community has independently built a police station, but critical infrastructure such as the Gomungo bridge remains unrepaired. “This is something we are thinking—that the government has just abandoned us … or the system is going to abandon us,” Pe Atudipare told A1 Radio.
Pe Atudipare painted a bleak picture of the dangers facing Manyoro residents. “There was a time we tried to see how best they can fix up that Gomungo bridge. People are dying every day on this road and bridges,” he said.
He also recounted a fire in 2023 that destroyed his own home — a two-bedroom house — and another tragic incident that claimed the lives of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby because an ambulance could not reach the community in time due to the collapsed bridge.
The community, he said, has tried to contribute to a solution by levying itself to raise materials such as cement and iron rods to begin a temporary bridge, but that has not been successful because of the costs involved.
“We are just appealing to the government if they can come to our aid because it’s not a small thing we are going to do.” Pe Atudipare also appealed to politicians who visit during elections to follow through on their pledges, saying, “Every time these politicians come … they know our problem, and when we vote, nobody comes back.”
He warned that Manyoro’s isolation poses serious security risks for this border community. “We are in a border community,” he said. “If these bandits at Burkina Faso, they come and attack, where do we run to? We have been cut off.”
Source: a1radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga
