The paramount Chief of Bawku, Naba Asigiri Azoka Abugrago II, has described as false reports indicating that he has endorsed the candidature of President John Mahama ahead of the conduct of this year’s elections.

According to him, reports, which emanated in the aftermath of the visit of President Mahama to his palace earlier this month, that he had declared his support for the President are not true.

The Bawku Naba explained that, when President Mahama visited him, “I was in possession of a white handkerchief. The journalists present alleged that this was an endorsement of President Mahama. It is not true. The same way I am dressed before Nana is the same way I was dressed before the President.”

Naba Asigiri Azoka Abugrago II, without hesitation, indicated that “this is the proper endorsement I want to make. God willing this year, you will get what you want and become the President of Ghana.”

The Paramount Chief of Bawku made this known on Monday, August 29, when the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace, as part of his tour of the Upper East Region.

Garu Chief endorses Akufo-Addo

Whilst in the Bawku Zone, Nana Akufo-Addo also received a ringing endorsement from the Chief of Garu, Naba Asuguru Akuntam Wini, who declared his support for the NPP flagbearer in this year’s elections.

According to the Chief, the NPP has a rich history of delivering on its electoral promises, and is in no doubt that voting for Nana Akufo-Addo will only bring progress and prosperity to his people.

“Our problem, in the past, was a district. President Kufuor, before the 2000 elections, came here and told us that if he won the election, it will be done. True to his word, the creation of the district was done. When NPP promises you something, it will be done. Thanks to his Excellency, President Kufuor, for giving us the district,” he said.

The Chief appealed to Nana Akufo-Addo to construct a district hospital in Garu, when he wins the elections. The appeal for the construction of the hospital, according to the Chief, stems from the “propaganda” being churned out by activists and functionaries of the ruling government, who claim the Garu District hospital is at various stages of completion. The Garu Naba indicated that this claim was completely false.

Additionally, with the mainstay of the residents of Garu being agriculture, Naba Asuguru Akuntam Wini noted that the desire of farmers in Garu is for an all-year-round agriculture. This, he explained, can be achieved by the construction of an irrigation dam at Tamve. This, he added, will help alleviate the poverty of the people of Garu.

“I listen to the radio all the time and I have heard your campaign promises - ‘1-District-1-Factory’, ‘1-Village-1-Dam’. These promises have touched my heart. Just as President Kufuor fulfilled his promise to us, please fulfill these promises to us also when you win the election,” he urged the NPP flagbearer.

On the deplorable nature of the roads in Garu, the Chief wondered when the much touted ‘Eastern Corridor’ road development will “reach Garu”. He appealed to the NPP flagbearer that “when you win, let that road be your priority. It will help our pregnant women, it will help our people and it will reduce accidents and people can be able to move safely.”

In concluding, Naba Asuguru Akuntam Wini noted, with worry that the National Health Insurance Scheme, under President Mahama, is no longer functioning in Garu.

“The NPP brought us the NHIS. But, today, the NHIS is no more. It is just in name and not by action or practice”, a clear indication by the Garu Naba that the scheme had collapsed.

our priority is a dam

In Tempane, Nana Akufo-Addo visited Kpatia, a village in the constituency, where he called on the family of the late Alhaji Imoro Ayarna, a former Minister of State in the First Republic, who passed away last year, to pay his respects.

Appreciative of the NPP flagbearer’s gesture to the family, the head of the Imoro Ayarna family, Imoro Ayarna, who happens to be the son of the late Statesman, indicated that there are “people who were his sons, and some who knew him, but never came here. We are grateful (for your visit).”

On what constitutes the main concern of the people of Kpatia, he stated that “our priority in Kpatia, once you’re in government with you team, is a dam. Our second priority is a dam. Our third priority is a dam.”