Constituency Watch: Nalerigu-Gambaga Constituency -Home of scenic tourist sites
Apart from the large production of food crops, the Nalerigu/Gambaga Constituency in the North East Region is home to some scenic tourist attractions, ranging from landmarks, and hospitality to rich diverse culture.
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And because of these tourist sites, the constituency attracts a number of people, particularly foreigners, from all walks of life to the area to have a feel of nature and the rich culture.
Notably among the tourism attractions are the famous Gambaga witch camp, Naa Jeringa defence wall, Tusugu cliff dwellings, White River Rapids, Nayiri Palace and the Doves cave.
Aside from being the constituency capital, Nalerigu is also the administrative capital of the North East Region, one of the six new regions created across the country in 2018.
The others are the Savannah, Oti, Ahafo, Bono East and Western North regions.
The creation of the new regions was in fulfilment of a campaign promise by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2016, pursuant to petitions received on the need and substantial demand for the creation of new regions.
This was to help bring administration closer to the people and facilitate rapid development in the affected areas.
Nalerigu is also the traditional seat of the Mamprugu kingdom and hosts the Gbintiri market, one of the largest food crops and livestock markets in the northern part of the country which attracts traders from other parts of the country to Gbintiri to trade.
Challenges
Although the constituency has seen some appreciable level of development in the past four years, there is still much to be done.
Majority of the roads in the constituency are in a deplorable state, and when it rains most of the communities are cut off from Nalerigu, the regional capital.
Some of the deplorable road networks include Nagboo-Kulgona-Tuna, Nalerigu-Sakogu-Nakpanduri, Gambaga-Dagbriboari and Langbinsi-Wundua.
Another issue of concern to the inhabitants is the poor state of infrastructure in most public schools in the constituency, forcing schoolchildren to learn under harsh conditions.
The constituency has about 100 primary and junior high schools (JHSs) and all are faced with challenges ranging from lack of furniture to poor infrastructure.
A recent visit by the Daily Graphic to some of the schools revealed that in spite of the government’s resolve to ensure that all children of school age were enrolled, most schoolchildren were studying under bad conditions.
For instance at the Awalia primary at Gambaga, pupils lie prostrate to write while others are combined in the few available classrooms.
A view of the North East Regional Coordinating Council building
Geographical Structure
The constituency has a balance in leadership with a National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP), Issifu Seidu, and the Municipal Chief Executive being Rashida Mahama Poanaa.
Created in 1996, it is one of the oldest constituencies in the region with a land mass of 1,706.8 km2. The constituency shares boundaries with Talensi and Nabdam districts, Bawku West and Garu districts, all in the Upper East Region to the north and to the east is the Bunkpurugu Nankpanduri and Yunyoo districts.
It is also bordered on the west by the West Mamprusi Municipal and to the south by the Gushiegu Municipal and Karaga District.
The Nalerigu/Gambaga constituency which is also the East Mamprusi Municipal with Gambaga as its capital has 142 communities with five Town and Area councils, namely Nalerigu and Gambaga Town Councils, Langbinsi, Sakogu and Gbintri Area councils.
Demographics
Generally, the constituency has a mix of formal and informal workers such as teachers, health workers, civil and public servants, security personnel, traders, farmers, among others.
Its population is generally youthful, with agriculture as the main activity in the area.
As a rural constituency, the constituents are predominantly engaged in agricultural activities such as livestock rearing, vegetables and crop farming with some of the produce as maize, soybeans, groundnuts, millet, sweet potatoes, watermelon.
Some of the major farming communities in the area are Langinsi, Sakogu, Gbintiri, Zarantinga and Nagboo.
Voting pattern
It has a total population of 188,006 with 91,119 males and 96,887 females per the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
As it was formerly part of the Northern Region, it is one of the focal points for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), with the former winning the seat five times - 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2020, whereas the latter has won only twice.
The incumbent NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Issifu Seidu, polled 54.0 per cent of the votes in the 2020 general election to snatch the seat from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Alima Mahama, who had 45.5 per cent of the votes.
The constituency is considered as a stronghold of the NDC. However, NPP appears to be matching the NDC closely and closing the gap, a development many have attributed to the influence of the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Development projects
A section of the Gambaga town roads
In spite of the challenges, it has witnessed some significant development since the creation of the region in 2018.
For the first time since independence, the once deprived Nalerigu and Gambaga, the twin towns, have had their roads worked on with bitumen surfacing.
The 10-km Gambaga and Nalerigu town roads project was constructed at a cost of about GH¢24.7 million.
Street lights have also been fixed in both towns, which have improved visibility at night and encouraging commercial business activities among residents along major streets in the regional and municipal capitals.
Water project
Also, a small water system project has been constructed at Nalerigu and Gambaga which is expected to supply about 35,000 gallons of water a day to households in each of the towns.
It forms part of the $45 million facility jointly funded by the World Bank and the government to provide water in rural areas of the six new regions, of which Mamprugu is a beneficiary.
RCC, YEA
Last year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo inaugurated newly constructed offices for the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) office in the North East Region.
The RCC administration block constructed at a cost of GH¢17.6 million is among the administration structures being constructed for the six newly created regions.
Located at Nalerigu, the regional capital, the building would house all departments of the RCC and other state institutions to ensure effective and efficient administration of the region.
On the other hand, the YEA regional office complex formed part of the new structures being constructed for the new regions.
Warehouse
A 1,000 tonne capacity warehouse has also been constructed at Gambaga under the government’s One-district, One-warehouse initiative, to help reduce post-harvest losses in the area.
The project is expected to improve on-farm practices such as handling and storage, which exposed farm produce to pests. It will also facilitate trade between small-scale farmers and wholesalers in major cities.
East Mamprusi is a major production zone for rice and maize with current production levels of between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes per annum.
Opinion leaders/residents
Some people who spoke to the Daily Graphic acknowledged there has been improvement in development of the constituency but said there were a lot of work to be done to help address some of the pressing challenges.
They expressed concern about the deplorable nature of the link roads in the various communities and the rampant armed robbery attacks in the area.
A resident of Namangu, Sulemana Salifu, told the Daily Graphic the seven-km road linking the community to Walewale was in bad state, making living conditions more difficult for them.
He said due to the poor state of the road, vehicles barely visited the community which was making it difficult for farmers to be able to transport their foodstuffs to the markets.
Another resident of Dagbriboari, Yussif Azundow, said the area had become a safe haven for armed robbers and other criminals due to the bad nature of the roads and poor telecommunication network.
Some opinion leaders – Yahaya Razak and Afa Rahim - commended the government and the MP for initiating a number of projects which were impacting positively on the lives of the people in the constituency.
They, however, appealed to the government to equip the security agencies with logistics to be able to curb crime and ensure the safety of the residents.
Infrastructure development
In a recent interview with the Daily Graphic, the North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, said the government was on a drive to bring massive development to the people of the area.
He said a lot of measures had been put in place to leapfrog the infrastructure development of the area to address the challenges of the people.
MP’s interventions
For his part, Alhaji Seidu told the Daily Graphic that when he assumed office, he undertook an assessment to identify the pressing needs of the constituents.
He said more than 1,000 people in the constituency had benefited from a free eye-care screening, out of which about 170 people who were diagnosed with cataract had undergone surgery to restore their vision.
He also mentioned the drilling of mechanised boreholes, provision of medical consumables, payment of fees of some needy students, organising extra classes for students, among others, as some of the projects he had undertaken in the constituency.
Aside from that, he said he had also lobbied for a number of projects and explored available resources for the execution of such projects in the constituency.
