Communities threaten govt over siting of school
There is disagreement over the location of a government community secondary school in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region, with some chiefs and youth in the district threatening to turn against the government.
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At a news conference that resembled a grand durbar of chiefs and people, the chief of Bulenga asked the government to relocate the school from Loggu to Bulenga “or else the NDC government should not expect even a single vote from the 25 polling stations in the Chakali zone, in the 2016 general elections.”
But the District Chief Executive for Wa East, Mr Abdul Karim Abudu, has appealed to the people to remain calm over the issue since no malice or discrimination was intended in the process to locate the school at Loggu.
“It was a fair process and I personally refused to participate in the work of the District Education Oversight Committee which presided over the matter, although I am a member of the committee,” he said.
Addressing the media at the news conference attended by 19 chiefs and more than 150 community members, Bulenga Naa, Naa Seidu Nawologime IV, said the siting of the school at Loggu defeated the very criteria set out by the district assembly for qualifying to host such a school.
He said the DCE had stated during an assembly meeting on October 29 this year that the criteria for the selection of a community to host such a school included “the availability of documented land of up to 15 acres and more, the number of communities in the catchment area, among others,” all of which Loggu satisfied.
But Bulenga Naa, whose statement was read by Kanbo Naa, Seidu Yahaya, amid intermittent cheers from the youth, men and women, questioned the composition of the District Education Oversight Committee, indicating that he was aware that the presiding member for the assembly and the Member of Parliament for the constituency – who are both members of the committee – did not participate in the deliberations.
“Comparatively, Bulenga is at the centre of the district while Loggu is at its periphery, just 4 km from Wa Municipal and it shares a boundary with Wa West District, and is only 14km from Wa Senior High School,” he said in support of their demand for Bulenga to host the school.
Feasibility studies
He wanted to know when feasibility studies were done to recommend Loggu as an appropriate site for the project, insisting that they were unaware of any visit by any members of a committee for that purpose.
He said Loggu ultimately did not satisfy the criteria for the siting of the school on the grounds that the number of schools in the Chakali catchment area is far more than that in the Loggu area, that Bulenga is at the heart of the district geographically with over 30 communities surrounding it, and that Loggu is one of the five education circuits whose centre is Bulenga.
“We have no problem with land acquisition as there is abundance of land for whatever project,” he insisted. “How is it then that the siting of such an important school will be at Loggu and not Bulenga?”
The DCE, Mr Abudu, who spoke to Daily Graphic on phone, said per the committee’s work, Loggu satisfied the criteria such as catchment areas within its geographical location and population to feed the school. It also submitted a formal application attached with documentation on a 65-acre plot of land with a site plan for the purpose.