Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has concluded his four-day campaign tour in the Upper East Region, underscoring his commitment to addressing key challenges facing the region when elected as President.
Addressing the media after his Upper East Region campaign tour, Mr Mahama expressed gratitude for the successful and incident-free campaign, highlighting key issues and proposing solutions aimed at transforming the region’s socio-economic needs.
“First, let me thank the almighty God for the successful completion of the Upper East campaign. We have done it smoothly without any casualty, no incident, no accident. And we thank God for our lives. And thank God for protecting us. Let me thank the Upper East region for the cooperation we’ve received and the support wherever we’ve gone. I also want to thank the media who came with us from Accra.
‘You’ve left your families, you’ve been with us. You’ve seen the terrain, you’ve seen the issues and then the local media, you are here with the people and so you know, what the issues are and you also followed us around and you took part in everything that we did. I want to thank the security forces, especially the Ghana Police Service for the protection they gave us wherever we went. I want to thank the military for the protection they gave us when we went to the Bawku area. I also want to thank our regional executives for a good job done”.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, National Democratic Congress flagbearer
Agricultural Transformation: Farmer Service Centers
Touching on his vision to transform agriculture in the Upper East Region, the National Democratic Congress flagbearer and leader underscored the region’s farming predominance and the persistent challenges faced by farmers.
He criticized the current government’s programs like “Planting for Food and Jobs” for their lack of sustainability, proposing instead the establishment of Farmer Service Centers.
These centers, he noted would register farmers, catalog their farms, and provide targeted support including fertilizers, seeds, and mechanization services.
Former President John Dramani Mahama further pointed out that the centers would also buy crops at guaranteed minimum prices, ensuring farmers are not exploited by middlemen.
He stressed the need for agro-processing zones to add value to crops, enhancing economic opportunities for farmers.
“If they need harvesting services, they will offer it to them, combine harvesters and all that. Then at the end of the farming season, when they have harvested, they can sell their crops to the farmer service center at a minimum guaranteed price so that middlemen don’t take advantage of them and when they have sold the cost of the inputs will be deducted and whatever profit they have will be paid on to them.
“There is a need for us to urgently introduce agro processing because we are not adding any value to the crops that they are producing and so creating agro processing zones where we bring equipment, small equipment using the private sector to buy the maize from them to produce corn grits, produce maize flour, produce cassava flour, process groundnuts, and process all the other crops that they produce, process their rice and package it nicely for the market. These are all things that would help to change the lives of our people here”.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, National Democratic Congress flagbearer
Infrastructure: Road Network Concerns
Moreover, Mr Mahama criticized the current administration’s claims of constructing 12,000 kilometers of roads, noting the stark contrast between these claims and the deteriorating state of roads in the Upper East Region.
He highlighted the urgent need for routine maintenance and new road constructions, particularly stressing the importance of the Tamale to Bolga road, which is crucial for connecting to Burkina Faso and has seen significant wear due to heavy-duty trucks.
“If you take the Tamale to Bolga road is virtually falling to pieces. This road was built in President Jerry Rawlings’s era, and it’s like 16 to 20 years old and there’s no proper maintenance. It needs an asphalt overlay because of the heavy-duty trucks that use that road to connect to Burkina Faso. So roads are a major issue in the region”.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, National Democratic Congress flagbearer
Education and Healthcare
Addressing educational and healthcare gaps in the Upper East region, Mr Mahama called for more schools, improved access to secondary and tertiary education, and better healthcare facilities.
He pointed out the lack of tertiary institutions in vast areas of the region, emphasizing the necessity of establishing agricultural-focused educational institutions to serve these communities.
“For instance, if you start from Daboya all through the overseas area to Ekubori, to Yagaba, to YeseSea, to Fumbisi to Sandima all the way to Navrongo, there is no tertiary institution in that whole area, and if the people there want to access tertiary education, they either have to go to Wa or go to Tamale or come to Navrongo or Borga. So there’s a big gap there”.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, National Democratic Congress flagbearer
Youth Employment: A Ticking Time Bomb
Additionally, Mr Mahama highlighted the critical issue of youth unemployment, describing it as a “ticking time bomb.”
He underscored the need for urgent intervention to create job opportunities for the region’s young people, suggesting initiatives aimed at women’s empowerment and the construction of modern markets to boost economic activities in the Upper East region to address the devastating issues.
In conclusion, former President John Dramani Mahama announced that his next campaign stop would be the Volta Region.
He also revealed his plans for a youth-focused town hall meeting in Bukom, Accra, as part of the “Mahama Conversations” series, aimed at addressing youth issues and integrating their concerns into national discourse.
“And so these are some of the things that are coming up but all in all it’s been a successful 4-day tour in the Upper East Region, and once again thank everybody who has helped to make this campaign a success. Thank you very much”, Mr Mahama ended.
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