Some youth of Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality have poured onto the streets of the town in a protest against the government for what they say is a failure on its part to complete the Navrongo sports stadium on schedule.
The demonstrators say the inability of the government to complete the stadium amounts to depriving them of a fair share of development projects in the country.
They also claim that the project is long overdue, with its abandonment affecting the growth of sports activities in the town and region as a whole.
"At the sod-cutting ceremony in July 2018, we were categorically told the project will be completed in nine months. In fact, the contractor promised to finish it in 8 months and hand it over to us as a valentine's gift. To wit, the project in normalcy should have been completed in 2019 even if it would have had some delays.
"We waited in 2019, waited in 2020 and waited in 2021 we still have no stadium of our own. There exists no completed football pitch worth of mention in the whole region.
"We do have talents in Navrongo and the Upper East at but the no-stadium situation or worthy football pitch is derailing our efforts. Currently, there are no stadia in the region qualified for the Ghana Division One league football. Any team that qualifies from the Upper East Region has to choose between Tamale or Wa to play their home matches," The convenor of the demonstration Akwata Yaminu Stanislav stated.
He added that "We are tired of waiting, our patience has run out and the usual diplomacy is not working. So we are here today asking to see to the development of the Youth Resource Centre which includes a stadium."
For his part, the municipal chief executive, Joseph Adongo, commended the Youth for conducting the protest in a peaceful manner.
He said the delay of the project was equally of great concern to him and the abandonment of work has given him sleepless nights.
He, however, said he was in talks with the Upper East Regional Minister and the other relevant authorities to ensure the facility is completed to serve the people of Navrongo and the region.
While he lauded the protest of the youth as legitimate, he called for calm in the municipality as the government handles the issue.
He said, "I'm very happy to see your faces on our premises today. I have seen your faces and you're not violent. You're trying to bring out an issue that burning deep down you. And you're doing this professionally.
"I'm happy we have all come together to see the need to speak with one voice to alert the government that this is a need, it is necessary and we need to have this particular facility in place."
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Residents want the project to be completed