Navrongo: Over 1,000 hungry widows get food aid

Over 1000 deprived widows at Navrongo in the Upper East region have taken delivery of some food commodities to ease their protracted struggles with untold hunger.

The relief comes after the Minister of State at the Presidency and Member of Parliament (MP) for Navrongo Central, Mark Owen Woyongo, had told a philanthropic miner based in the Central region, Victor Gadri, that some widowed mothers in the constituency “hardly get two meals a day”.

“I have been with the widows for quite some time. I know their plight. I know they have to break their backs to make ends meet for their families. And I know that in Navrongo, most of the women are the breadwinners especially when they lose their husbands,” Mr. Woyongo told newsmen shortly after the foodstuff had been presented to the We Mo Atu Widows and Orphans Ministries.

The items, worth about Gh¢83,000, include 34 cartons of cooking oil, 20 cartons of sardines, 200 bags of maize and 200 bags of rice. Even though the direct beneficiaries are members of the association, the MP entreated the recipients to share their lots with other needy widows who are not part of the association.

Miners told to share with needy
A number of widows who were expected to be part of the presentation ceremony were reported to have been taken ill and, therefore, could not show up. And clear disparities in the supposed uniform those in attendance were wearing only placed the depth of their rural poverty on full display in front of invited guests.http://ghanapoliticsonline.com

Disturbed by that spectacle, Mr. Gadri, who is the Managing Director of the Triple Key Company Limited, made a promise he would provide the fraternity with a suitable uniform this year. Speaking afterwards in an interview with the press, Mr. Gadri entreated miners in the country to support the needy.

“We have been doing this for the past ten to fifteen years. We do donations three times every year. If God [blesses] you, you have to [support] those… in need, orphans, physically challenged people. Let me use this platform to advise my young brothers and sisters in Ghana. If you are faithful to your work, you will survive. And when you survive, you have to help the needy in your areas. I take this one from Zachariah chapter seven verse eight to twelve,” he urged.http://ghanapoliticsonline.com

He was accompanied by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) to the company, Francis Otabil, among other officials.

About 500 widows not health-insured
About five hundred identifiable widows at Navrongo, according to the President of the association, Madam Lamisi Weyiramogwi Atiim, are not covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Whilst some are yet to register with the scheme due to financial constraints, a number of them have failed to renew their expired cards for the same reasons.

“You saw how they were trying to kill themselves when they were sharing the food. That is hunger. One of our worries as widows here is hunger. Some of them struggle to get food even once. Then, the children’s school fees. We don’t have money, too, to do petty trade. Some of them are carrying expired health insurance cards about. There is no money to renew them,” the president told Starr News.

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the charity, the widows showered equally overwhelming praises and prayers on the MP and the philanthropist and promised to remain dedicated to the cause of underprivileged widows regardless of their backgrounds.

“We are lost for words. We don’t know what to say. You brought the food at the right time, in the lean season. Just look around you. You won’t find any crops. May God fight your battle for you. Your grandchildren will never lack anything,” Madam Lamisi said passionately.

Woyongo promises more support
Mr. Woyongo has remained an outstanding pillar the widows’ group has looked up to for close to a decade.

He secured an auctioned mini bus for the association in 2014 for its activities and has donated food items to them on two occasions among other forms of assistance rendered in person.

“I will liaise with the women to get to know the exact number to see how best I can support them to register with national health insurance,” he told Starr News Sunday after the leader of the group had made it known that about half of the members were not health-insured.

“We Mo Atu”, the name by which the association is called, is a statement in Kasem, a dialect widely used in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality. It means “God is coming.”

Source: Ghana/starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Edward Adeti