Residents Of Kutukrom In Western Region Bans Political Campaign In Community

Thousands of residents of Kutukrom, a farming community in the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipalty in the Western Region have broken silence by banning any form of political activity in the community.

According to them, the deplorable state of the 

Kutumkrom stretch of the road has resulted in many deaths and rising cases of maternal mortality and pregnant women miscarriages.

This was revealed in an interview with some residents who are predominantly women to complain bitterly about the old aged of numerous challenges facing them in the area.

The residents said they are planning to embark on the demostration to protest the poor health care system delivery to them by the doctors and nurses of Kutumkrom clinic.

They stated that due to the poor nature of the Kutumkrom clinic and road, many commercial drivers failed to ply the road, pregnant women and other patients are carried in the three -wheeled vehicle through the muddy road to distanced health care facilities.

"“A lot of women get miscarriages on this road, because of that they are even having problems with their husbands, they think it is their fault. Anytime the pregnant women are being transported to the market on the road, because the road is poor the pregnant woman is vulnerable and will get miscarriages.

Commercial activities in the area are crawling and farm produce are going bad. Youth in the are drifting in search of greener pastures," the residents told journalists.

The residents during the interview with the journalists chanted 'NO Road, NO VOTE' and vowed to deal with any politician who would step foot in the area to campaign.

They complained over the deplorable nature of the only health care delivery  Kutumkrom clinic in the area which was adversely affecting the clinic to provide the high quality primary health systems to the residents to achieve sustainable development goal.

According to them, apart from the unavailability of basic necessities such as clean water, wash room, toilet facilities, lack of beds, electricity, scanning and x-ray machines, among others, the treatment given to them by the workers working in the clinic in very poor, the situation which has placed a burden on them.

They pointed out that there are no 

x-ray machines in the clinic, saying that many times they travelled far from Kutumkrom to Prestea before they came to do x-ray, the situation which they stressed has become worry to them.

The visibly worried residents bemoaned the unprofessional conduct of the doctors and nurses of Kutumkrom Clinic on how to treat the women who came to deliver babies in the clinic.

"If a woman came to deliver baby in the clinic and that instead of the doctors to admit her and the body on the hospital to see to your health condition, the nurses and doctors would quickly discharge the nursing mother to go home with the flimsy excuses that there are no beds to admit them mother, this situation has become dangerous to the many women who came to deliver babies in Kutumkrom clinic," they complained.

They further complained bitterly that if your children got sick and you sent them to the Kutumkrom clinic for medical treatment and that when the nurses gave the children the drip and instead of them to let them wait to examine the situation of the children, they would asked them to go home, and sometimes upon teaching home the situation becomes worst, and that these are the problems be facing in the hands of the hospital authorities in Kutumkrom," the residents told journalists.

Aside complaining of the misconduct of the workers of the hospital, they lamented over the poor state of the their road networks which according affecting their transportation system in the area.

They stated that the bad nature of the road had made many of the pregnant women to have miscarriages

Mincing no words, they residents stated that if the central government failed to address their pressing challenges which are facing them, they served warning notices to the central government should not bring their voting ballot boxes to to the area to demand from them to vote in the 2024 general elections.

"We are not going to queue to vote again because our clinic is not having proper primary health care logistics, our roads are poor, our telephony networks are very bad and we have frequent low electricity power," the residents revealed.

The residents further complained of having difficult to send to do MTN Momo money transactions in the area, lamenting that when they intended to send momo money to their relatives/families who are living in other communities to use to pay school fees and hospital bills, they found it extremely difficult to do. 

"Something we have to climb the Kutumkrom Mountain and tried several times before we can do mobile money Momo transaction effectively to our family members in other communities. The poor electric network is also affecting the 2023 students who are checking their their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results. Sometimes we have board car to Kumasi before we can check the results of the students as well as to the check the schools they were posted to. Please Our President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, we are appealing to you to do something about these old aged problems for us," the residents cried out.

The residents also complained of lack of poor telephony networks, saying that when they is a light off they have climbed the hill before they can the call to relatives.

Speaking in an interview with journalists, 

chief of the Kutumkrom, Nana Kutu Acheampong V corroborated with the statement made by the residents over the poor nature of roads, lack of proper electricity power network and lack of proper health care facilities.

He lamented over the lack of the social amenities with the primary focus of the bad nature of the roads on the area.

He pointed out the Kutumkrom stretch of road has become bad since 1996, saying that  they were neglected by the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Municipal Assembly in spite of the the  large cocoa beans which are coming from Kutumkrom community.

According to him, last year they have levied the residents including traders and organized a  communal labour in a bid to repair the damaged roads to lessen its effects on women and children.

He pointed out that the residents came out in their numbers to do some repair works on the roads which has developed deep holes and wide cracks.

The chief indicated that when there was a electricity power off in the area, they found it extremely difficult to make calls and also transfer other telephony networks businesses in the area, which situation is affecting the living conditions of the people in the area.

Nana Kutu Acheampong III pointed out that that they have officially lodged several complains of their challenges to the Assembly, the former and the incumbent MPs and government appointees but they have failed to come to their aid.

Pix: Minister For Roads and Highways