Residents of Sherigu Kumbilingo, a suburb of Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, are threatening to boycott the upcoming district-level elections and the 2024 general elections due to a lack of electricity in the community.
The community since Ghana gained independence and saw to the construction of the Akosombo Dam that brought electricity to Ghana with the extension of same to Ghana’s north in the 90s has never had electricity despite marked progress seen in the extension of electricity to many communities.
Plunged into decades of darkness with no end in sight, the residents are peeved over the years of neglect by successive governments.
8 sub-areas in the Kumbilingo electoral area, have not been connected to the national electricity grid with some sections having had poles erected and abandoned leaving the residents to continue to reel in darkness.
The residents say several assurances from officials of past and present governments have not yielded any positive results with very little or nothing being done about their plight.
At a community engagement that saw women and men both young and old gather under a huge mango tree, united in grief over their predicament, one could sense uneasy calm among the people who came out in their numbers.
In an interview with Dreamz News the Secretary of Abotesugere Youth, Bolga Sherigu, Peter Akolbila, says the lack of electricity in the community is making life in the community unbearable and left residents lagging behind in terms of development for decades since it is negatively affecting education and the establishment of businesses in the community.
He indicated that they will not hesitate to refrain from taking part in this year’s district-level elections and the 2024 elections if nothing significant is done about their plight.
“The electricity situation is affecting us and we can’t even charge our phones. I work outside the community but anytime I am home, my phone is off for the majority of my stay at home. People can open businesses like shops, and grinding mills among others but how can they do that if we don’t have electricity?
So, our decision is that we will not vote in this year’s district-level elections and also boycott the general elections next year because it is not worth voting when you are not getting development.” He lamented.
