Residents of Doggoh in the Jirapa Municipality of the Upper West Region have bemoaned the lack of electricity in the community, saying it has negatively impacted their livelihoods.      

They say it is difficult to engage in any economic activity such as selling of refrigerated food like frozen fish and water to earn income to help boost their living conditions.      

Madam Regina Bafuuro, a resident of the Doggoh community told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the community that the lack of electricity is affecting her business.      

“I am a business woman, I brew pito to sell but how to mill the guinea corn to brew the pito is very difficult. I have to either go to Babile or Jirapa to mill, but those places are also very far from here. It is affecting my business,” she explained.      

The residents also say their children sometimes have to sleep hungry due to the lack of electricity at the community to mill corn for them to prepare food.      

They noted that, women have to travel several kilometers to access a mill at Jirapa or Babile to mill their grains in order to feed their families.      

Mr. Francis Borwuoh, another resident of the community, said the lack of electricity was also having a toll on the education of their wards.    

He observed that they were unable to study as well as do their assignment at home in the night, saying it is retarding their academic performance as compared to their counterparts in other communities with electricity.

“Our children who attend Junior High School at Kunzokalaa are not able to compete with their colleagues.      

“When the teacher asks them to prepare for a test, those at Kunzokalaa will prepare very well because they have lights but those at Doggoh cannot prepare because there is no light here,” Mr Borwuoh explained.    

The Doggoh community folks have therefore appealed to the Jirapa Municipal Assembly and the government to provide the community with electricity to help improve their livelihoods.      

This, they say will also help improve the education of their wards and facilitate the development of the community.      

Meanwhile, Assembly Member for the Kunzokalaa Electoral Area, Mr Stephen Salia Dasaa, says the Doggoh Community is one of the communities in the Jirapa Municipality earmarked to benefit from the Rural Electrification Project.      

He, however, added that the contractor in charge of the project has not yet reported to the project site, but that he was following up on him to commence the project as soon as possible.