President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that he was happy with the commitment of the Nandom Traditional Authorities to peace whilst the Chieftaincy issue in Nandom is being resolved.
The President said the decision by the Traditional Authorities to commit to peace was a responsible one and prayed that the Chieftaincy issue would be speedily resolved to ensure a new Nandom Naa is en-skinned.
President Akufo-Addo was addressing Naa Domepeeh Gyere, the Acting President of the Nandom Traditional Area and other Divisional Chiefs and Queen Mothers in Nandom as part of his two-day tour of the Upper West Region.
“I want this to be done with speed so that the next time I come to visit, I can be properly welcomed by a new Nandom Naa into the Municipality”, he said.
Nandom is confronted with the challenge of en-skinning a new Paramount Chief of Nandom after the passing away of Naa Dr Charles Puoure Puobe-Chiir VII in August 2018.
President Akufo-Addo also noted that last year when he visited, the major problem confronting the Nandom area was armed robbery and that today he was glad that with the support of the Interior Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, armed robbery had reduced significantly.
He assured of continued work to make the region peaceful and appealed to traditional authorities to continue to cooperate with security services in that regard.
President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the Minister of Agriculture was working to ensure the establishment of ADB Bank in Nandom, which he said would address the concerns of the lack of a Bank in the Municipality.
He said the Ministers of Health and Education would be directed to work to strengthen the Municipal Hospital and address the problems of the Midwifery School.
He also promised to work on the request to establish a Switch Station in Lawra to facilitate the extension of electricity to other remote communities in the area.
Naa Gyere noted that the massive development witnessed in Nandom during the President’s first term in office was unmatched and left them with no regrets in the decision of the Traditional Authority who en-skinned the President as “Maalu Naa” (Development Chief) during his first visit to Nandom as President.
The Acting President of the Nandom Traditional Area noted that one of their age-long problem, which was roads had received massive attention saying, “The urban roads project which is the President’s brain child has made their town beautiful and they thank you”.
He also acknowledged government’s effort in completing the tarring of the Lawra-Nandom-Hamile road and that they now await works on the Kamba Bridge and the resumption of work on the stalled Nandom-Ko-Tizza road project to ensure its completion.
Naa Gyere equally expressed gratitude for the European Union (EU) Farm Access Roads project, which considered 14 of their farm roads, adding that this would enhance agriculture activities in the area.
He pointed out that the Free Senior High School (FSHS) had also brought great relieve to many parents in Nandom where government’s support for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) had resulted in the upgrading of St. Ann’s Vocational Training Institute in Nandom.
He appealed for Municipal Offices for the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to improve their work.
Naa Gyere noted that the elevation of Nandom to Municipal status had also resulted in improvement of services to the people and expressed the people’s gratitude to the President.
Mr Ambrose Dery, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nandom Constituency and Minister of Interior noted that gradually, Nandom was on an irreversible path of becoming a strong hold of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)