The Member of Parliament for Chereponi in the Northern Region, Hon. Azumah Numawu, claims more than 24 women die in labor every year in his constituency due to the bad state of the roads.

He says the situation makes maternal mortality in Chereponi one of the highest in the country. The MP was speaking on “Burning Issues” on Adom FM and Asempa FM on Monday. He noted that pregnant women in labor are usually carried on bicycles and in wheel barrows on a journey of about 80 kilometers to the nearest health facility where a medical doctor is hardly available.

According to Hon. Numawu, the whole of Chereponi district has only one clinic manned by just three nurses, without a midwife or doctor, and has no pharmacy. "I sometimes use my personal car as an ambulance to convey sick people and pregnant women to the hospital" he stated.

Honorable Azumah Numawu said roads in the area are some of the worst in the country, and they get worse when it rains, adding that there is not even one tarred road in the district.

“There are several communities which do not have access to hospitals and potable water, and are also inaccessible especially during the rainy season,” the MP said. He said the only major road available is the one from Yendi to Chereponi, and that is also in a deplorable state.

According Hon. Numawu, added to the bad roads and poorly staffed clinic, only about 15% of Chereponi is hooked to the national grid, so most residents of the area do not have access to electricity. "Since time immemorial Chereponi has virtually received no developmental intervention from governments, thereby making the area one of the most underdeveloped in Ghana" he added.

He, therefore, called on President John Dramani Mahama, and the Northern Regional Minister to set aside special fund to meet the needs of the district.