Correspondence from Upper East Region

Robert Aloo, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for the Chiana- Paga constituency in the Upper East Region has made a donation of medical essentials to the Kasena- Nankana West district health directorate.

Mr. Aloo presented items such as gallons of liquid soap and bleach, gallons of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, gloves and ‘Veronica Buckets’ to the district health authorities on Thursday at the premises of offices of the health directorate.

The donation is to support efforts of the District Assembly and the health directorate to fight the spread of the deadly Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) to the area, following an outbreak in the country.

The Parliamentary candidate made the donation in the company of the District Chief Executive Gerard Ataogye, the NPP constituency chairman, Mohammed Adams Karimu and other party members.

Making the presentation, the soft-spoken Mr. Aloo said the donation was also to help health workers in the district, who are front liners in the fight against the Coronavirus, to stay safe as they discharge their health care duties at the various health facilities.

“This donation is for the DHMT in the Kasena-Nankana West district to help fight COVID-19. The very people who meet it first and are at high risk are our front liners- the health workers, and so we decided, as a party, to make this donation of items to ensure that you stay safe to be able to save people who will be infected with the disease”. He said.

He said the pandemic was of great concern and there was the need for all to join hands to stem its spread to the area. He further assured the health directorate of more support in the future to strengthen their capacity to contain the disease.

“The pandemic is a great concern for every citizen of this country and of course we are also concerned for our district and people because we share a border with our neighbours Burkina Faso. So whatever contribution that we would have to also make to enable you (health directorate) get prepared and in readiness to fight the disease, we will do it”. He assured.

The parliamentary candidate, who has been praised for his humility, on the sideline of the presentation has urged people in the constituency to adhere strictly to guidelines given by government and the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent contracting the virus.

Mr. Gerard Ataogye, the District Chief Executive (DCE) who was part of the delegation was optimistic the items would address the deficit in the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) at the various health centres in the area to enable health staff to work effectively.

He commended the Parliamentary candidate for the thoughtfulness and urged the health directorate to double their efforts to ensure the safety of the people.

“with the numerous CHPS compounds we have in this district, at least, if these things are distributed, I think we can make an impact”.

For his part, the Kasena-Nankana West district director of health service, Hypolite Yeleduor who received the items, thanked Mr. Robert Aloo for heeding their call for assistance. He said the donation would go a long way to help the health directorate in its efforts to contain the spread of the disease to the area.

He commended the MP aspirant for acquiring some of the most important and scarce items for the directorate, with a promise to ensure the judicious use of the donation to achieve the purpose for which the items were procured.

He also thanked all stakeholders in the district for their unflinching support from the very beginning and appealed for more support to enable the directorate to adequately prepare for the pandemic.

“On behalf of the regional health directorate, the Ghana health service, the district health directorate and staff, I want to thank the NPP parliamentary candidate, Mr. Aloo for making this donation. I also want to thank all stakeholders for their support so far and to appeal for more support”.