Speaking at the 5th Ghana Poultry Day celebration organised by Agrihouse Foundation in Accra, Mr Boam reiterated his dedication to enhancing infrastructure and creating opportunities across the constituency.

“I will explore every avenue to bring development to all corners of our constituency,” he assured, adding that his focus remains on sustainable progress and support for the local economy.

He was joined at the event by the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, John Dumelo.

As part of his support for farmers, Mr Boam facilitated the participation of poultry farmers from Yeji, who received birds to boost their production.

He also urged the youth to take advantage of government initiatives such as President John Dramani Mahama’s Nkoko Nketenkete poultry policy.

“My constituents should have no worries. I remain committed to bringing meaningful development, and I encourage the youth to embrace farming and benefit from these initiatives,” he said.

Farmers who attended the event expressed appreciation for the MP’s efforts.

“We thank the MP for his continuous support. His work is making a real difference, and we hope he continues to champion agricultural development in our community,” one farmer told Adom News.

Source: Jagri Boaz Binyinjom

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The District Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) in Pru East, Alhaji Taminu Ahmed, raised this concern during the authority’s 2024 Annual Performance Review Meeting.

He explained that the demand for co-payments—where patients are asked to pay additional fees despite holding valid NHIS cards—is discouraging many from using the scheme.

According to Alhaji Taminu, this practice has led to increasing mistrust among residents, many of whom now prefer paying out-of-pocket for healthcare in order to receive better treatment, rather than relying on their NHIS cards and still being asked to pay extra.

He emphasized that the trend undermines the purpose of the health insurance policy, which was introduced to ensure equitable access to healthcare services without financial hardship.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Pru East, Emmanuel Kweku Boam, who was also present at the review meeting, urged Mathias Hospital and other service providers in the district to improve their healthcare delivery, particularly for NHIS subscribers.

He noted that the issue of co-payment is a major barrier preventing many people from seeking medical attention and called for urgent action to restore public trust in the scheme.

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This follows the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams, which wreaked havoc, as houses and sanitation facilities such as toilets, refuse dumpsites and cemeteries were submerged, threatening the health of the victims.

Additionally, state institutions, particularly schools, have also been submerged, compelling authorities in the area to close down the affected schools.

All commercial activities, mainly fishing and farming, which are the main livelihoods of the people in the area, have also been curtailed.

Large tracts of land, including farms and other livelihoods, have also been flooded.

An Assembly member for the area, Godwin Awudu, said though the area continued to witness flooding each year, the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams had worsened the situation.

No casualty

However, he said despite the havoc that threatened lives and property, no casualty had been recorded at the time of filing this report.  

Mr. Awudu explained that, although the affected communities got submerged more than two months before the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams, the spillage of the dams had worsened the situation, as large tracts of farmlands were flooded and their livelihoods were taken away from them.

Mr Awudu said he had made several complaints for more than two months about the situation to the district office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) for support but he was yet to get a response from them.

He said that since the incident no government officials, including the Bono East Regional Minister, Kwasi Adu-Gyan, and Regional Director of NADMO had visited the area to sympathize with the victims as being done elsewhere.

Mr Awudu said the victims were currently staying with their relatives, while those without relatives were sleeping in open spaces, churches, and schools.

Relocation

He said the Pru East District Assembly and the chiefs in the area had released land for the resettlement of some of the communities such as Fantekrom, Vutideke, and Pentecost Nsuoano, because their situation was critical.

However, Mr Awudu said there were no resources for the victims to put up new homes because they had lost all their resources and investments.

He, therefore, appealed to the government and other stakeholders to support the victims with some relief items.

Mr. Awudu said the victims were still drinking and using water polluted via toilet facilities, refuse dumpsites, and cemeteries.

He expressed concern about a possible outbreak of waterborne diseases and appealed to the Ministry of Health to consider their plight to support in the area of health.  

However, efforts to speak to both the regional and district directors of NADMO were unsuccessful.

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Dr Donkor has held the seat since the 2016 general election.

However, on May 13, 2023, he left the seat to a newcomer, Emmanuel Kwaku Boam.

Mr Boam was one of the two aspirants who were seeking to unseat the incumbent MP.

The MP polled 372 votes while Mr Boam obtained 474 votes, the last aspirant, Bright Yaw Annor also secured 66 votes.

Ahead of the primaries, Mr Boam who was optimistic about his win stated constituents were fed up with the sitting MP and are calling for change.

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The former Power Minister has, therefore, called on the National Security, Interior Minister and the Inspector General of Police to engage their men to flush out such criminals from the area.

He said Kan Dapaah, Ambrose Dery and James Oppong-Boanuah should intensify security operations and safeguard the corridor.

Dr Donkor said incidents of armed robberies have become rampant and gravely affecting economic activities within his constituency.

“The economic impact of these armed robbery activities has been extremely negative,” he said.

The affected districts, according to the MP, include Sene East, Sene West, Pru East and West districts and the Atebubu-Yeji Highway within the Eastern Corridor of Bono Region.

Speaking to the press, Dr Donkor also revealed that armed robbers have succeeded in driving away traders who come to the community to conduct business with other traders along the corridors.

“People who come from Kumasi, Salaga and all other various places to those markets, if they are attacked and robbed of their working capital, they don’t come back again.

“In the current economic climate, it is not easy coming by working capital, so if you lose yours to armed robbery, it becomes a major issue,” he lamented.

Dr Donkor, who has been lamenting about the issue for years, says unemployment is one of the key factors leading to the cause of high rate of crime in his constituency.

“I think unemployment and other factors are giving birth to this high-level rate of crimes, and as a country, we are sitting on a time bomb,” the lawmaker added.