The residents of Charlie community, located in the Wa West District, are unhappy with the lack of development in their community.
They claim that successive governments have neglected them, and they are now calling on the current government to intervene. The residents are requesting a dam for irrigation farming and access to the national grid. The residents spoke on Info Radio’s Zienyaaye Upper West Show on Thursday.
"We are using dry season farming to build houses, buy motorbikes, and finance our children's education. However, we face a challenge with inadequate water supply. By March, all the water sources usually dry up, and we cannot get water to irrigate our crops, “one of the residents explained.
The lack of electricity in the community is of great concern to the residents. They stated that they have to travel several kilometres to the Eggu or Charia to charge their mobile phones.
One resident explained that their community clinic is not connected to the national grid and the solar system installed at the facility is not meeting the expectations of the staff.
"We don't have a midwife available, so when women go into labour they have to be transported on a motorbike to Eggu for delivery. Unfortunately, if you're not lucky, you may not reach the health facility in Eggu before the woman delivers,” she added.
Kweku Laningdoma spoke on behalf of the chief of Charile, emphasizing that the construction of a dam in the community would greatly benefit irrigation farmers.
“Our school is not part of the school feeding programme, and some of our students skip school to eat at home, which worries us.”
He appealed to the government to consider the inclusion of the community's school in the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
Meanwhile, the Assembly Member of the Eggu Electoral Area, Mr Dssah Ephraim, said he is working hard with the district assembly and the Member of Parliament for the area to secure electricity for the electoral area.
He, however, said the problem of electricity is a district-wide problem and not peculiar to the Eggu Electoral Area.
He observed that the Charile community is at the fringe of the Nadowli0Kaleo District and that all the communities along the area within the Nadowli-Kaleo District have electricity except the Charile community which is in the Wa West District.