Kotokuom Residents Show Gratitude As Government Repairs 68-Year Old Damaged Bridge

Kotokuom Residents Show Gratitude As Government Repairs 68-Year Old Damaged Bridge

Residents of Kotokuom in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region have expressed their profound thankfulness to President John Dramani Mahama as well as the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, for swiftly repairing the 68 year-old collapsed community bridge to allow for safe vehicular and pedestrian movement across the Offin River. Speaking in an interview at the commissioning of the project on Tuesday, 26th August 2025, the overjoyed residents said prior to this timely intervention, previous governments had, unfortunately, been unresponsive to their years of fervent pleas.

According to them, the rickety bridge made it difficult for them to ferry sick persons to the Nyinahin Government Hospital. They have expressed optimism that government would complete all ongoing projects in the community.

Describing the refurbishment as a great relief to the entire community, Nana Owusu Adade who represented the Chief of Atwima Agogo, Nana Osei Kwame III, said the first construction of the bridge was funded from the taxes of cocoa farmers – who were its major users. He noted however that population growth and increased usage over the past six decades had apparently affected its structural integrity. Amongst other things, Nana Owusu Adade appealed to government to urgently address the spate of robbery attacks on indigenes who ply the Kwanfinfin – Kotokuom stretch.

Meanwhile a former District Chief Executive of Atwima Mponua Assembly under the erstwhile Nana Akufo-Addo government, Honourable Williams Darko, has dissented on claims that the New Patriotic Party abandoned the bridge throughout its 8 years in power. He disclosed that while constructing a 24-kilometre road from Kwanfinfin to Apenimedi, the contractor caused significant damage to the bridge, rendering it unsafe for use. According to him, the narrative of a new bridge is false and misleading because the construction maintained all the old pillars.

Story filed by Barbara Koranteng.