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A group of Ghanaians living up-north in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, will hit the streets Monday, August 22 in protest of what they say is President Mahama’s poor handling of the economy which has brought untold hardships to them.

The impending campaign has drawn a lot of interest in the region and across the areas up-north for the move set for tomorrow, organizers of the street protest say.

The largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party, leading the campaign together with the Convention People’s Party, the National Democratic Party, the Progressive People’s Party, the People’s National Convention, and Hassan Ayariga’s All Peoples Congress have all whipped up the interest of their supporters across the region towards the peaceful demonstration.

Dubbed “DI MI YA”, which translates in Dagbani “Times Are Hard,” the demonstration is intended to send strong signals to the Mahama-led administration vis a vis the prevailing “frail economy” culminating in the increasing poverty and deprivation of the North under his[Mahama] leadership.

Mohammed Abdul Kudu, the spokesperson for the organisers, said: “The leaders of all the opposition parties here, conscious of the depressing sentiment on the ground, had a series of meetings over several months and finally took a collective decision that we could not just sit there quietly whiles our people here in the North continued to endure worsening hardships with the President and his appointees showing no concern or care.”

He continued: “We believe we have been worst hit by the reckless economic management and corruption in the country. Our schools and hospitals are struggling with basic supplies. The sick are dying, our kids are failing in school. Our farms are dry. Our farmers are no longer getting the subsidised support they relied on from the state. We see billions of dollars being borrowed and spent, but harvests here continue to be poor because no investments in irrigation by the state and the inputs have ceased coming.

“The young people, as well as business owners, are completely disillusioned. Those with jobs are struggling. Many have lost their jobs and many businesses have closed down because of killer electricity tariffs. And, when hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in our name, like with SADA, we the intended beneficiaries do not benefit and not a single person is punished. It can only mean that the President supports the insulting treatment we are receiving.”