The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Walewale, Dr Mahama Tia Abdul-Kabiru, has expressed disappointment with what he describes as the slow pace of development in the North East Region under the current government.
He said the region had been conspicuously left out of a number of major government initiatives, including plans for regional universities and a World Bank-supported programme to rehabilitate feeder roads in agricultural production areas.
He said the omission was particularly worrying, given the region’s significant contribution to food production and the need for improved road infrastructure to facilitate access to markets.
“You look at flagship programmes, you realise that conspicuously missing is the Walewale Constituency or the North East Region,” he stressed.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Abdul-Kabiru said the situation had sometimes put him in a dilemma over whether to undertake projects that, in his view, should ordinarily be the responsibility of the central government.
At the constituency level, he cited inadequate street lighting and poor road network as some of the challenges.
Water supply
On water, Dr Abdul-Kabiru said the situation remained a major concern for constituents.
He said a community water extension initiative had been proposed to help address the challenges, but indicated that the necessary attention had not been given to it.
“Truth be told, if I say I am happy with the pace of the government in the constituency, I am lying. I will be lying to say that,” he noted.
Dr Abdul-Kabiru said aside from projects initiated through his own efforts, there had been limited visible development in some parts of the constituency.
Residents’ disappointment
Commenting on growing concerns among residents about the pace of development in the constituency, Dr Abdul-Kabiru said their disappointment was justified, given the development interventions they had witnessed under the previous administration.
He said residents had witnessed the development interventions and recruitment exercises undertaken during the NPP administration and had consequently expected more from the current government.
“They saw the deployment that was going on in the Walewale Constituency.
They saw the number of people who were recruited. They were witnesses to all that was happening,” he said.
Dr Abdul-Kabiru, however, urged the residents not to turn to the National Democratic Congress (NDC), arguing that the NPP remained the party that could best advance the interests of the North East Region.
He added that “the party that will help the people of the North East Region and Walewale Constituency, irrespective of their political affiliation, is the New Patriotic Party.
Much more so when Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is a flag bearer”.
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