Hafiz Timbile Adams
The people of Wechiau, the capital of the Wa West District, have registered their displeasure against what they described as unfair sharing of government projects in the area.
At a joint press conference held by the youth and the traditional council at the forecourt of the Wechiau-Naa Palace on Wednesday, February 11, the people criticised the Member of Parliament, Peter Lanchene Toobu, and the District Chief Executive, Richard Wullo, for concentrating development at one side at the neglect of most part of the district.
Citing the proposed construction of the 24-Hour Economy Market at Poyentanga and a TVET school at Ga, they accused the MP of sending all development projects to the Eastern corridor of the district, where he hails from. While indicating they are not against the Ga and Poyentanga communities benefiting from government projects, the Wechiau people questioned the lack of district-wide consultation before deciding on the location of the projects, particularly the 24-Hour Economy Market.
With the 24-Hour Economy Market, they find it difficult to understand why it is not sited in the district, Wechiau, as done in other districts. They cited the Wa and Jirapa Municipalities and the Wa East and the Nadowli-Kaleo Districts as examples to that effect.
The Secretary to the Wechiau Youth Association, Mohammed Bondogibu Bordey who addressed the joint press conference, disclosed that the traditional leaders nor the youth in Wechiau were consulted before arriving at the decision to locate the market at Poyentanga.
They accused the MP of misleading traditional leaders into signing a document to aprove the siting of the project. They noted that it was presented as market stalls at Poyentanga to be financed using the district’s internally generated funds.
Hon Lanchene Toobu has also been accused of claiming credit for central government initiatives, which always shroud information about such projects. According to the Wechiau people, ever since the MP took office, they are always marginalised and ignored when decisions on major developmental issues are taken.
On the education front, they expressed disappointment over the lack of attention by the political leadership in the district towards absorbing the community initiated Wechiau Senior High Technical School. They noted that despite numerous calls and appeals to the MP and other government officials, they are yet to see any positive response from the MP, while a new school is to be sited at Ga. Thus, they want government to expedite action to absorb the school and provide it with the needed infrastructure.
The people also expressed surprise that both the MP and the DCE hail from the same zone despite the President’s directive not to concentrate appointments in one area. They believe this has contributed to the neglect of other parts of the district as the two government officials seem to focus on developing their areas rather than the entire district.
They, therefore, appealed to the Regional Minister, Charles Lwanga Puozuing, to intervene and ensure that the Wechiau Traditional Area and other parts of the district are not sidelined by the MP and the DCE in the distribution of the national cake.
