Since the inception of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government on 7th January 2017 under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and the Vice President, Dr. Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia, the Central Tongu District in the Volta Region has witnessed tremendous infrastructural and other achievements in the last eight years.
The more than fifty (50) projects which cut across all sectors and spheres of the Central Tongu economy, have been undertaken with funding from sources such as the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF), Internally Generated Fund (IGF) as well as inflows under the GETFund and the District Assemblies’ Assessment Tool (DPAT) amongst others.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Hon. Thomas Moore Zonyrah disclosed this in an interview with our news team at Mafi Adidome, the district capital. According to him, these success stories have been achieved due not only to the prudent use of the scarce financial resources of the country but also the application of the right skilful decisions by the management of the Assembly.
At the Mafi Srekpe D.A. Basic School, for instance, a 3-unit classroom block with an office, library and ancillary facilities has been provided. The structure benefits more than 100 schoolchildren. The situation is not different at the Mafi Tsakpo D.A. Basic School. The Kindergarten or KG section has been built as a 3-unit classroom block, housing more than 60 pupils of the school.
At the Mafi Kutime community, a 4-seater Water Closet (WC) place of convenience has been constructed. The project which is about 90 percent complete, would soon be connected with water and electricity. A similar structure has also been provided for more than 120 pupils at the Mafi Mediage Basic School.
At the Mafi Kumase New Market, the government through the District Assembly has constructed 52 lockable stalls, 4 Number Market Sheds as well as one 10-seater WC Bio-Digester facility. One Overhead Poly tank was also provided in 2019 for water storage for hand-washing activities during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Apart from increased enrollment of students at the two main Senior High Schools in the district under the NPP’s free SHS policy, the two secondary schools can also boast of improved infrastructural facilities during the last eight years. At the Mafi Kumase Senior High Technical School (MARKSTECH) for instance, the Nana Addo/Bawumia-led NPP administration provided the school with a completed Dining Hall with a Kitchen complex and a 12-unit one-storey classroom block facility for the students. A 3-unit Technical Classroom block has also been provided, housing the Building, Auto and Electricals departments of the school. The school is also benefitting from a 2-storey Administration Block project which is currently stalled. The school’s brand new 3-storey 6 apartment GETFund Teacher’s Quarters has however reached the 95 percent mark, ready to be occupied by the teachers in the next few weeks. Mr. Hope Semevor is the Headmaster of the school, Mr. Hope Semevor was grateful to the government for the gesture and hoped that the remaining facilities would also be completed on time.
At the Adidome Senior High School, apart from the provision of a Dining Hall and Kitchen complex facility to the school, the NPP government also constructed a 12-unit classroom block for use by the students in addition to the provision of a 300-bed capacity Girls’ Dormitory block.
During the period under review, the Mafi Asiekpe D.A. Kindergarten School benefited from a 2-unit KG block with an office. Mafi Fiekpe also saw the provision of a complete CHPS compound facility for its residents. The health facility renders OPD, Ante-Natal Care as well as Maternal and Delivery services to some 1,343 residents in the catchment area and in communities such as Fiekpe, Sorkorpe, Adidokope and Mafi Afeda.
At the Mafi Aflavenu community, the government through the District Assembly has constructed a new market for the people. A 6-seater place of convenience facility is also under construction. The project which is at the lintel level, would be completed within one week. A Kindergarten block made up of 2-unit classrooms, a head teacher’s office, as well as a 5-seater WC place of convenience, has been provided for the pupils of Mafi Adiekpe R.C. Basic School. The project which is about 95 percent complete, would benefit more than 300 pupils. Mr. Emmanuel Amezah, the Headteacher of the school described the gesture as encouraging.
Residents of the Mafi Anfoe community can boast of a CHPS compound that serves about 3,208 clients in the catchment area. The clients include residents of Mafi Klukpo, Dadoboe, Tsawla and Alorsorkope. The government is also undertaking electricity extension in the community to get more people connected to the national grid. At the Mafi Anfoe E.P. Primary School as well, a 2-unit KG block has been built for the pupils.
As part of efforts to ease and improve transportation within some of the typical rural communities of the district, gravelling and grading of roads have been undertaken by the government with support from the equipment and machines provided under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
Apart from culvert construction on some of these roads at Mafi Anfoe and Mafi Adiekpe, feeder roads like the 2.5km Mafi Anfoe to Mafi Klukpo, the 1km Mafi Anfoe Junction to Mafi Anfoe as well as the 1.5km Tsawla Junction to Tsawla, have all been taken care of.
A two-unit KG block facility with an Office has been provided for pupils of the Mafi Tsawla D.A. Primary School. At the Mafi Akyemfo D.A. JHS however, the government has built a 3-unit classroom block with an office and ancillary facilities, benefiting more than 100 pupils of the school. As part of the sanitation improvement strategy of management of the District Assembly, a 10-seater biodigester public place of convenience has been constructed at Adidome-Fieto, Mafi Kumase New Market as well as at the New Bakpa community.
Residents of Bakpa Tojeh now have a 3-unit classroom block facility with an office for their children. Until this was done, the pupils were studying under a rickety structure. The provision of a similar 2-unit KG classroom block and an office at the New Bakpa D.A. Basic School is also promoting good educational outcomes among the pupils.
One of the major health facilities undertaken by the NPP government at Mafi Dove is the construction of its Health Centre which serves more than 3,000 residents in more than 20 communities. They include Mafi Dugame, Mafi Akpokope and Mafi Amediokor. The health centre provides OPD, Ante-Natal, Laboratory and Community Nursing Services to the clients. Mr. Dennis Gakogo is the Physician Assistant in charge of the facility. He told our news team that the gesture was refreshing.
The District is benefiting from the government’s flagship 1 District 1 Factory initiative. The Bluesea Island Company Limited from the People’s Republic of China is undertaking an aqua-culture project on the Volta Lake at Bakpa Kebenu. As part of the fish farming project, the Company also produces its feed to grow the fingerlings and also for sale to other local fish farmers in the district and beyond. The Omni Poultry Farm at Mafi Agbenyokope also produces 1000s of crates of eggs from its current 70,000 layers imported from India.
The farm is located on a 200-acre land. Management also cultivates bananas through the use of irrigation schemes. The Spring Agro Rice Mill near Mafi Adidome has also been impactful on the local economy. DCE Thomas Moore Zonyrah noted that the contribution of these companies to the growth of the local economy of the Central Tongu District, cannot be over-emphasized.
The Mafi Wudukpo D.A. Basic School has been provided with a 3-unit classroom block for the 54 JHS pupils. This is expected to end the trees school system being faced by the pupils. A similar 3-unit classroom block support with an office also went to the Mafi Avedo D.A. JHS where almost 60 pupils are benefiting from the facility even though it is about 90 percent complete.
Through the initiative and instrumentality of the DCE and the NPP government, the Central Tongu Girls’ Model Junior High School was established in February 2018. The School has since been provided with a 3-unit classroom block, an office, computer laboratory as well as ancillary facilities. The Headteacher of the school, Margaret Esinam Amu said the 67 girls of the school are grateful to the DCE and government for the gesture.
The government is currently constructing a new office complex for the staff of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) at Mafi Adidome. The project is about 75 percent complete. At the Mafi Adidome Government Hospital at Adidome, the government in 2021 constructed an Accident and Emergency Unit, aimed at equipping the facility to be able to handle all road traffic accidents on the highways in its catchment area.
Water, it is said is life. The Central Tongu District Assembly premises at Adidome houses the headworks of the 5-District Water Project System which currently supplies some 3,000 cubic metres of water per day to 1000s of residents in the district and also in neighbouring districts and constituencies such as Adaklu, North Tongu and Agotime Ziope. As part of efforts by the government to expand the water system to meet the needs of the people, a second phase of the project is currently ongoing at Mafi Adidome. The one-year project which started in August, this year, would produce 1.5 million cubic metres of water per day when completed in 2025. The project which has a solar component to generate some electricity for its operations, is being undertaken by Dowin Company Limited based in Accra. The site Engineer in charge of the project is Mr. Innocent Zonyrah. He told our news team that the project would greatly inure to the benefit of the beneficiary districts.
The DCE called on the citizens to retain the NPP and its flagbearer, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia to power in the December polls for further development of the district in particular and Ghana as a whole. He was grateful to several people including his Assembly staff and the Chiefs who have been supportive of his course and vision throughout his tenure as the President’s representative for the Central Tongu District.
