Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria || Sanatu Zambang Editorial
I was born in Yendi but I did not grow up there. I left Yendi at a very young age. I had my education in Tamale and Accra. Yendi is a place I go for vacation or if we have a family gathering. Yendi cannot boast of any meaningful and impactful developmental projects that seek to uplift and empower the people. Infrastructure and basic amenities are still problems in the municipality.
The question is who have we been electing to represent us in the corridors of powers? Were they just there to add up to the numbers or they were just ceremonial figures?
Photography by Next Pixel images 
Yani Kpatu-Naa Naama Andani. Photographer – Eric Gyamfi
We have never really had people at the helms of affairs both at the district level or as a member of parliament who have outline their vision and what they hope to achieve in their tenure of office and we never have to re-elect people based on what they promised to do and they did not execute them.
Now Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama came with a purpose and a plan. At the end of his first term, he is going to be judge by that. It is either he retains the seat with bigger or lesser margin or lose the seat, depending on how he can execute his mandate as the MP for Yendi using the standard that he set for himself.
I like to believe that, Alhaji Farouk dream is not just to remain as the Yendi MP forever. He is nursing an ambition, one that his father did not get to fulfil. That ambition starts now with his new Yendi City Project.
This stage is going to be the defining point for him; it is either he wins the people’s heart by fulfilling his promise or he affirms what his naysays have always said; that, he is just a small boy who his father left money for and the people loyal to his late father are the reason that, he got the seat.
His new Yendi City Project is what he is going to use as bait to court admirers, lovers, and followers beyond the constituency. Right after the swearing-in, Alhaji Farouk launched a scholarship for SHS graduates in the municipality.
The scholarship is meant to cater to SHS graduates who are needy but brilliant in the municipality to further their education. That is a good and noble gesture.
I like the way he has structured the scheme. It is not just going to be for party followers or you need to pass it to someone to help you. He has embraced technology. People who need the scholarship will have to apply online and if they meet the requirement, they get selected.
I like the technology bit part. And that brings me to the next point. Getting people trained in Information Communication Technology (ICT). The newish in town is ICT. Every department and every organisation need an ICT expect.
Easy to get a job and if even you do not get a job, you can be self-employed and operate at home. ICT is another aspect I would like the new MP to look at under his partnership for the Poverty Reduction Program and educational plan for the constituency.
It is shameful to say that, the whole municipality, we do not have an ICT hub to impact knowledge to our people. If someone wants to learn this, then the person needs to travel outside of the town to learn.
If MP can open an ICT Centre, it is going to help in equipping the youth with new knowledge and ready job as well as self-employment, thereby reducing youth unemployment in the constituency and helping him achieve his new Yendi City Project.
Still on the scholarship, I wish he will attach a mentorship program. Most students apply for courses and schools that do not benefit them in anyway. With his links, I know he can get people from Yendi who are lecturers at the various Universities and in other sectors to come and talk to the student in the municipality to get a sense of what the job market needs and what the university can offer them.
This mentorship should not be limited to only those who qualify for the scholarship, but all SHS graduates in the municipality.
Under the education program again, I would like to talk about the library. I am passionate about reading among children and all ages. So, it was disheartening to find out last year that, we do not have a library in the municipality.
I would like to see Alhaji Farouk collaborate with the necessary bodies to establish a functioning library in the town. In my findings, there is a structure designated to be used as a library but no books and other tools to make it user friendly for people
