The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Region has taken a dig at the National Women’s Organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hannah Bissiw for condemning the construction of an interchange in the Northern Regional Capital, Tamale.
The NDC National Women’s organizer has come under fire for describing the interchange as needless and a misplaced priority by government.
But the Northern Regional Communications Directorate of the NPP, has taken a serious exception to the pronouncements of the NDC national officer, describing her comments as not only borne out of ignorance, but denigrating to the people of the region.
Signed by the Regional Communications Director Sule Salifu and in the possession of BestNewsGH.com, the statement read in part that ‘’If Accra has several interchanges why not Tamale? If Kumasi has interchanges why not Tamale? If Takoradi is getting an interchange for the first time why will anyone say Tamale does not deserve one? Referring to Tamale as a village which does not deserve important development projects like an interchange amounts to a moral sin of treason against the integrity of the people of the Tamale.’’
Read the NPP’s full statement on the matter below:
Re- “Tamale Interchange is Needless, The People Don’t Need It” Hannah Bissiw
The attention of the New Patriotic Party in the Northern Region has been drawn to a widely circulated publication attributed to Madam Hannah Bissiw who is reported to have made a remark to the effect that the Tamale interchange project is “needless” hence the people of Tamale and for that matter Northern region does not deserve it. Ordinary such an unfortunate statement from someone who should know better would have been ignored and thrown in to the dust bin of history but the fact that the statement has been granted wide media prominence necessitated our rejoinder.
For the personal enlightenment of Madam Bissiw and those who shared in her bizarre disposition about the Tamale Interchange project, it is highly imperative to state that the project is a monumental developmental priority which will hugely impact the lives of the people of Tamale and beyond and so it takes visionary leaders like His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and NPP government to envisage relevance and importance of such a project hence his decision to execute it.
Tamale is a main transit town to Ghana’s northern neighbour of Burkina Faso and other land locked countries from the southern part of the country hence making the city an important trading route making huge contributions to the economy of Ghana. Today most of the traffic from the port of Tema to the land locked countries use the city of Tamale as a thoroughfare making it very important for both local and international traffic. Currently the Central part of Tamale experiences major delays during the peak periods with average speeds less than 15km/hr. In addition to this is the high rate of accidents being recorded due to crashes being experienced by vehicle/vehicle, vehicle/motorbikes/, motorbike/bicycles, etc.
From the above, it is obvious that the Tamale interchange when completed will step in to service the increasing higher traffic volumes to lessen travel time and generally improve the convenience of driving through the city. The interchange will also increase system redundancy, which can be beneficial in times of rerouting of traffic as may be necessitated by unforeseen future occurrences such as emergencies, construction/reconstruction, collision, or other disruptive events. Additionally, commercial development opportunities will be created in the vicinity of the interchange. And all these will cummulatively contribute significantly to municipal, regional and international trade development hence improved standards of living and poverty reduction.
It therefore defies common logic and reasoning that a national officer of a party that is desperately seeking the mandate of the people of Tamale and its environs will turn around and insult the sensibilities of the people of the area by postulating such an awkward view about an important project like the Tamale Interchange project. If Accra has several interchanges why not Tamale? If Kumasi has interchanges why not Tamale? If Takoradi is getting an interchange for the first time why will anyone say Tamale does not deserve one? Referring to Tamale as a village which does not deserve important development projects like an interchange amounts to a moral sin of treason against the integrity of the people of the Tamale. For us in the NPP, we see this gross disrespect by the national women’s organizer of the NDC as a direct insult from the leader and flag-bearer of the party, Mr. John Dramani Mahama who incidentally is a son of the North.
We call on all likeminded citizens of Tamale to rise up against this glaring labelling and denigrating statement from people who for years profited hugely from the political support of the people of Tamale. We therefore expect the former President to at least publicly reprimand Madam Hannah Bissiw if indeed he was not the one who sent her to come to Tamale and insult the good people of the area. If the NDC does not sanction the unfortunate statement from its national women’s organizer, then they should demonstrate their commitment to the good people of Tamale and the North by publicly disassociating itself from the unfortunate statement and rebuke her to deter others from doing same.
In conclusion we wish to reiterate the unconditional commitment of the NPP government to the good of Tamale, the north and Ghana as a whole. The president Akufo-Addo led government will continue to ensure equitable and fair distribution of the national cake. No community will be left behind, no town or city will be left behind and no group of people will be discriminated against on any grounds. Therefore every small town, city or village from Asamankese to Zuarungu will continue to benefit immensely from the good policies and programmes of the government in this current term first term and beyond. For it is our solid conviction that this government has so far performed better to warrant the renewal of our mandate to get four more years to do more.
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Sule Salifu
Regional Communications Director
New Patriotic Party N/R
