MP for Ho West commissions Maternity Home for Dodome

The people of Dodome Teleafenu in the Ho West District of the Volta Region can now boast of a maternity home following the commissioning of the facility by the Member of Parliament for the area, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah on May 28, 2022.

The commissioning ceremony which took place at a colorful durbar of chiefs and people of Dodome Traditional Area was heavily patronized by the people and major stakeholders including the Chiefs of Dodome, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ho West District, officers from the Ho West District health directorate, Rotary Club of Ho and the leadership of Rotaract Club of Ho, among others.

In his welcome speech, Togbega Kpangbatriku IV, the paramount chief of Dodome traditional area was grateful for the newly constructed facility and thanked all those who contributed in diverse ways towards the project.

In an emotional account of how the community has since the 1980s attempted to build a decent place for health delivery, the paramount chief indicated that their first attempt was to convert a local town Hall into a First Aid Post and same was commissioned in September 1983.

He added that the said facility gave in to termites and harsh weather conditions and so had to be pulled down in 2013.

The community at this point approached the Member of Parliament to intervene which he gladly did by constructing a three room block that has served as health post over the years, but that facility lacked the needed infrastructure for a functional maternity unit.

The paramount chief detailed how an initiative by one of the staffs at the facility in 2017 brought onboard Rotaract Club of Ho to start a maternity block to ameliorate this challenge. This effort according to the paramount chief also got stalled about four years ago due to lack of funds.

For the second time, the chiefs approached the Member of Parliament to assist in completing the stalled maternity project, and again, Hon. Bedzrah responded swiftly and completed the project in record time to be ready for commissioning and immediate use.

Togbe Kpangbatriku thanked all the people for their support and appealed for more assistance in order to get the facility to become fully functional. He indicated in part, that

“…the new facility is ready but almost empty according to medical standards. We are humbly appealing to the Ministry of Health to come to our aid with the necessary tools and equipment”.

To show their appreciation to the law maker, the Chiefs presented a citation to the MP. The citation reads in part

“…we the people of the six Dodome traditional area namely Awlime, Teleafenu, Avexa, Tsikor, Awuisu and Dogblome have noted with much pleasure the wind of change blowing through the entire constituency including Dodome thus making substantial improvements in our rural lives. Your conduct as a gentleman politician, approachable and the sociable character deserves our commendation.”

The Ho West MP, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah in a short speech thanked the Chiefs and people of Dodome for their continued support and exemplary approach to community based self-help development projects. He also thanked Rotaract for responding to the community’s call by starting the project and called for such collaborative efforts since governments cannot do it all alone.

The MP in responding to the chief’s request indicated that he has procured some hospital beds and will give one to the Dodome maternity home. The District Chief Executive for the Ho West also pledged to support the new facility with GHS7000.00 to fix its water systems and other support services.

He also urged the people to take good care of the facility. The Ho West District director in a speech pledged to put the newly built facility to good use while appealing to all stakeholders to help by providing equipment for the center.

By Francis Edzorna Mensah