Busia Birth Place Neglected – Wenchi Queen Mother

The queen mother of the Wenchi Traditional Area in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Nana Toah Samangyeduah III, has lamented the neglect of Wenchi, the birthplace of the late Prime Minister of Ghana, Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, by the John Mahama-led government.

According to Nana Samangyeduah, for the nearly eight years that the NDC took over power, nothing seems to work properly at Wenchi.

She said unemployment had become so endemic that able-bodied young men and women roam the streets aimlessly with nothing to do.  She noted that the Wenchi tomato factory, which used to employ a lot of people, had totally collapsed and farming, the main occupation of the people, has nothing good to write home about since the costs of farm inputs are beyond the reach of most of the farmers.

Nana Samangyeduah made the statement when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on her last week during his campaign tour of the region.

The queen mother said things had gone so bad in the country that instead of her son sending her money from Accra, she rather has to send him money, adding that that applies to other parents as well.

“The Constitution forbids us engaging in partisan politics. However, considering the circumstances and conditions of living we find ourselves in, no one will tell us how to act in this year's elections. We are living witnesses of the hardships. Wenchi is a famous, ancient town, which once saw a Chief Justice delivering judgements here. Look at Wenchi now. Wenchi is in tatters. We can't even tell our left from our right,” she lamented.

She prayed to the Almighty God to pave the way for Nana Addo to become the President of Ghana so that his promise of one factory in every district will become a reality for the youth to get something to do.

In his response, Nana Addo said he did not wake up one morning to just make the pronouncement that he would build one factory in every district in Ghana. He said a feasibility study had been undertaken and that “it is possible.”

Nana said apart from the one-district-one-factory policy, the free SHS he promised in the run-up to the 2012 general election still stands.

Before going to Wenchi, Nana Akufo-Addo and his retinue visited Tuobodom where he paid courtesy calls on the two chiefs in the town to seek their blessings.  He also worshipped with the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Pentecost and Apostles Continuation Churches at Tuobodom where he reiterated the implementation of his polices when given the mandate to rule the country.

He appealed to members of the churches he attended not to forget him in their prayers.

FROM Eric Bawah, Wenchi