An Open Letter to President Nana Akufo Addo: Bad Roads in The Upper East Region of Ghana

Dear Sir,
THE PATHETIC STATE OF THE ROADS IN THE UPPER EAST REGION

Cordial greetings to you, Mr. President, from the Upper East Region. I write to you with great pleasure to draw your attention to the bad state of the roads in the Upper East Region and to appeal to you to see to the due construction and completion of these roads.

Your Excellency, good roads and highways which play a major role in facilitating the country's economic activities through which goods are transported between cities as well as people, across the country to offer services, is rare in the Upper East Region.

The Upper East Region is deprived of good roads, highways and without any trace of a railway. The major highways linking the various Municipal and districts of the region are in the worse deplorable, dilapidated state and the feeder roads, as well as those within the towns are virtually nothing to write home about.

Major highways like the Bolga-Bawku, Chulchuliga-Waisi, Sandema-Dogninga, Navrongo-Tumu, Binduri-Bawku, Bolga-Naga-Navrongo and the Bongo-Balungu-Bolga highways, linking the not only the districts of the region but also other regions like the Upper West and Northern regions as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Togo. Some of these highways especially the Bolga-Bawku and the Chulchuliga-Waisi highways which have always been acclaimed to be under construction yet neither taste a drop bitumen and never get completed have been a bait used by politicians to gain votes from residents only to be leftover afterwards, pertaining to claims associated with "non-payment of contractors" by successive governments. So contemptible and an uncomfortable experience plying these roads and slowing down economic activities.

I would not talk much about the state of these roads, Your Excellency, since you have seen for yourself the nature of some of these roads during your 2017 two-day tour of the Upper East Region and on your visit to the Bolga-Bawku highway.

Your Excellency, as you rightly said during your tour that you do not want to be a president to only the national capital, Accra, I would like to appeal to you to consider working on the due construction of these highways and feeder roads in our part of the country.

Last but not the least request, I would also like to appeal to you to see to extension of the planned railway project to and from the region to major towns in neighboring regions as part of creating a renowned business community.

Mr. President, my humble call to you, is not only as a competent president to give us a share of the national cake in our outstretched palms, by to seeing to the construction and completion of these roads for us on time, but also as a selfless fanatical president who will be the final consoler of these sorrowful roads, to wipe the tears of these roads with a concrete or an asphalt handkerchief.

Mr. President, as you aim at taking this country to the next level to of development, meeting the 21st century's standards, the projects you have instructed to commence this year in the Upper East Region which include; 660 communities in the region to be connected to the electricity grid, the earmarked of $42m for the construction of a water treatment plant in Tono in the Navrongo Municipality and as a Tindana in the region I am very much positive that you would hear my call, the plea of a concerned citizen and will take immediate action in facilitating the due construction and completion of these roads.

Thank you so much, Your Excellency, for reading this letter of mine, I am most appreciative of your hardwork. Waiting patiently for your immediate action.

By: Akanming Abdulai Apagrimchang.
Email: [email protected]

Roads In The Upper East Region