Residents of Damanko in the Nkwanta North District of the Oti Region are renewing calls for the urgent commissioning of the long-stalled E-Block Community Day Senior High School, describing the situation as a painful setback to education and development in the area.
The project, initiated during the previous administration of former President John Dramani Mahama, has remained non-operational since 2015 despite being largely completed.
According to the residents, the prolonged delay has left families frustrated and disadvantaged, particularly parents who must now send their children to senior high schools outside the district at high financial and emotional cost.
The appeal has been directed to key authorities, including the District Chief Executive, Dordoe Kudjoe Isiah; Member of Parliament John Kwabena Oti Bless; and the Ministry of Education.
During a visit by Adom News, the school facility was found standing but unused, years after construction reached near completion.
The empty classrooms and idle infrastructure, residents say, represent a lost opportunity for thousands of young people in the district who need access to secondary education closer to home.
Kwabena Vincent, the Assemblyman for Damanko East, led the community’s concerns, stating that the project was about 95% complete before the change in government in 2016.
He argued that after eight years under the current NPP administration, the remaining 5% has still not been addressed in any meaningful way, leaving the community without the benefits the facility was meant to provide.
According to him, the completion of the E-Block is not only an education priority but a practical intervention that would ease the burden on households.
With a functioning school in Damanko, students would spend less time and money traveling or relocating, while parents would be spared the added expenses of accommodation, transport, and upkeep in distant towns.
Residents also believe the school could stimulate local development by creating jobs and attracting commerce.
They anticipate employment opportunities for teachers and non-teaching staff, as well as increased business activity for food vendors, transport operators, stationery sellers, and other small enterprises that typically grow around an active school environment.
Community members, however, expressed disappointment that a project they say was initiated under the NDC has not been brought to completion.
Many argue that the lack of progress over the past eight years has deepened their conviction that the NDC remains the political group most likely to deliver the facility fully.
As frustrations mount, residents insist their demand is simple and urgent: complete the outstanding works, equip the facility, and officially commission the E-Block to begin serving students.
They maintain that leaving a nearly finished school dormant for nearly a decade is unacceptable, and they are urging immediate action to secure the educational future of Damanko and the wider Nkwanta North District.
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