NE/R – Nakpanduri Regent Hails SOCO Market Transformation, Appeals for Water, Hospital and School Infrastructure

By – Sadat Dabo

The Regent of Nakpanduri in the Bunkpurugu District of the North East Region, Naaba Frederick Loaman Kansuk, has commended the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project for improving the community market and boosting local economic activities, while appealing for additional development support to address pressing infrastructure challenges

Speaking through his spokesperson, Nyuman Konlan Simon, during a community interaction on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, as part of a four-day Ghana–Togo cross-border exchange programme, the Regent expressed gratitude for the project’s contribution to development in Nakpanduri

He said the transformation of the community market had become visible, with the facility’s improved appearance and growing business activities reflecting the impact of SOCO’s interventions

According to him, the community appreciates the project’s contribution and is hopeful that further investments will help address its development needs

Regent appeals for small-town water system

Despite acknowledging the project’s achievements, Naaba Kansuk appealed to the SOCO authorities to support the provision of a small-town water system to ease the community’s persistent water challenges

He explained that although residents had made efforts to drill additional boreholes, the existing facilities were inadequate to serve the growing population

The Regent believes a small-town water system would significantly reduce the pressure on available water sources and improve access to safe water for households

Calls for hospital upgrade and improved healthcare

The Regent also appealed for support to complete abandoned projects at an Assemblies of God Church clinic established by World Servants, which were intended to facilitate the upgrading of the facility to hospital status

He expressed concern that the projects had remained incomplete for more than 15 years, depriving residents of the opportunity to benefit from expanded healthcare services

He said completing the outstanding works and upgrading the facility would improve access to healthcare and help address the community’s health infrastructure needs

Two senior high schools need dining halls

Education infrastructure also featured prominently among the Regent’s concerns

He noted that Nakpanduri has two senior high schools whose students face difficulties accessing proper dining facilities, with some forced to eat under trees despite the schools operating boarding arrangements

He appealed to SOCO to consider supporting the construction of dining halls and other essential boarding facilities to improve conditions for students

Poor roads, guesthouse rehabilitation top concerns

The Regent further called for support to improve inner roads in the rapidly developing community, citing the growing number of road accidents as a concern

He also appealed for the rehabilitation of Akuma Guest House, a facility he said had served the community for more than five decades but had deteriorated considerably

He believes rehabilitating the facility would restore its usefulness and contribute to local development

Farmers seek irrigation support

On agriculture, the Regent appealed for the provision of additional boreholes and irrigation infrastructure to support farmers who cultivate along riverbanks and seek to maintain production during the dry season

He said such interventions would enable farmers to continue farming throughout the year, improve livelihoods and strengthen household incomes

While describing the requests as some of the community’s pressing needs, the Regent expressed appreciation to SOCO for the interventions undertaken so far and urged the project authorities to consider the additional appeals

SOCO Coordinator welcomes community priorities

Responding to the concerns, the National Coordinator of the SOCO Project, Elizabeth Ohenewah Agyei, welcomed the community’s development priorities and indicated that the list of needs for the coming year had already been submitted to the project team

She said the next steps would involve formalising the requests and allowing the community to prioritise interventions for consideration and implementation, subject to the project’s processes

Madam Agyei explained that the cross-border exchange was designed to strengthen collaboration and encourage learning among countries implementing SOCO

She noted that Ghana was implementing the project alongside other countries in the Gulf of Guinea region, with the aim of promoting comparable approaches to development in their northern areas

According to her, the exchange provides an opportunity for participating countries to showcase completed interventions, share experiences and learn from one another’s successes and challenges

She expressed satisfaction that Nakpanduri had become a community where the project could showcase some of its interventions and thanked the visiting Ghanaian and Togolese delegations for their participation

Cross-border cooperation for development

The four-day Ghana–Togo exchange programme is intended to promote knowledge-sharing and strengthen cooperation in the implementation of SOCO interventions across border communities

The engagement in Nakpanduri provided an opportunity for community members and traditional authorities to highlight the project’s impact while drawing attention to outstanding needs in water supply, healthcare, education, roads, tourism infrastructure and agriculture

The Regent expressed hope that continued collaboration with SOCO would help address these challenges and extend development benefits to more residents

Source – gbcuraonline.com