Residents of Brukum Trawa, a rural community near Sekesua in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region, have threatened to boycott the 2024 general election due to a lack of social amenities.
The community members shared their grievances with the Ghana News Agency during an interview, stating that they had been deprived of essential services.
Nene George Sangmortey, the Chief of Brukum Trawa, expressed frustration over the years of neglect by the state in terms of community roads, electricity, and telecommunications networks, which were negatively impacting their lives and farming businesses.
He said vehicles were unable to transport farm produce, forcing the residents to find alternative but difficult methods to move their produce to the market centres.
“We feel we’re not a part of Ghana, as we have been neglected by successive governments,” Nene Sangmortey said.
“Vehicles are unable to ply the road to transport farm produce; when we harvest them, we will have to do everything possible to make the stuck vehicle move, a situation that is destroying our livelihoods.”
Despite nearby villages being connected to the national power grid and having access to telecommunications, the residents of Brukum Trawa had not experienced any such improvements, the Chief said.
Ms Sarah Awatey, a resident, said the poor road conditions had persisted for years without any signs of improvement, and though residents had attempted to organise communal labour to fix the road, erosion during rainy seasons continued to erode their gains.
She said the community had reached out to the District Assembly for assistance, but to no avail.
“We have been organising ourselves to construct the road through communal labour, but during rainy seasons, erosion has been affecting the road, and we have called on the district assembly to help us, but to no avail,” she said.
Pregnant women had had their share of complications when being transported to seek antenatal care, Ms Awatey said, citing instances where some in labour gave birth on the road while being conveyed on motorcycles.
Ms Dora Awatey, a trader, said the lack of electricity had led to increased snake bites, forcing people to leave their homes.
“Due to the absence of telecom reception, it is difficult for companies to contact their customers here,” she said.
“And market women who also have to travel from Kumasi, Accra, and other regions to buy farm produce from us will wait for our calls before proceeding and so the network has become a bane to our business.”
Mr John Tetteh, another resident, said they would not support any political party in the upcoming elections if their issues remained unresolved.
“We have informed the chief that we will not attend meetings if political figures invite us,” he said.
“Since we are in an election year, they should provide us with electricity, rehabilitate our road to aid transportation of our farm produce, and fix telecommunications networks, otherwise we will not entertain any campaign here.”
