For the first time since 2008, hundreds of residents of the Sherigu community in the Bolgatanga municipality have poured onto the rough streets to express their anger at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government for taking their loyalty for granted.
On Tuesday, September 13, the people of Sherigu demonstrated over the government’s failure to fulfill its promise of extending electricity to the area and also rehabilitate the road linking Sherigu to Bolgatanga.
The leadership of the community at a press conference after the demonstration, said the members had been denied basic amenities such as good roads, electricity and the day senior high school, despite their continuous support of the NDC government.
“We are stating categorically that the most prioritized need of this community is light. We have been demanding for light since the NDC took over in 2009 and to date, not even a pole can be found here. The reason why we are demanding for light is that there have been rampant stealing cases during the night, which can eventually lead to robbery soon. Also because of the lack of light, people sneak into our forest at night and deforest it,” a spokesman for the community said.
The spokesperson added that several calls for the rehabilitation of the Bolga to Sherigu road had been ignored, despite several promises to get the road done. “……now the Rural Electrification Project is currently on-going across the Upper East Region, but we are not part of it. We are very disappointed in the National Democratic Congress government under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama. Since 1992, Sherigu has been voting for the NDC; NDC wins majority of the votes from Sherigu community, but there is absolutely nothing in the community which can be pointed to the general public…….”
The residents of Sherigu have threatened that if they were not connected to the national grid before December 7, they would vote massively against the NDC and President John Dramani Mahama.
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