Over a thousand widows in the Walewale constituency of the North East Region have received generous support from the Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Women, and Children, Hajia Lariba Zuwera, to usher in the new year.
Each widow was provided with bags of rice, oil, clothes, and a hundred cedis each, marking the third consecutive year of such compassionate assistance from the MP.
Becoming a widow in the region is particularly challenging, especially when children are involved, often leaving families to face an uncertain fate. Widows are compelled to single-handedly care for their children, with some resorting to begging for their basic needs.
This year, a staggering 2,250 widows received assistance to celebrate both Christmas and the New Year, with the theme, “Support the Widows’ Might.”
At a ceremony to hand over the items, the MP expressed that this gesture would significantly alleviate the women’s hardships.
“I think this support is going to help alleviate the sufferings of our mothers. Some indeed do not have anything, and as we celebrate the Christmas and the New Year festivities, it is good we put smiles on the faces of these vulnerable women,” she said.
She attributed the support to both herself and the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, urging people to vote massively to ensure the continuity of such assistance.
“This support is coming from my own resources with support from sponsors. The Vice President and flagbearer of our party have also helped. I want to use this opportunity to call on our people to speak to the delegates to vote massively for and Dr. Bawumia for this to continue,” she appealed.
Hajia Lariba envisions providing start-up capital to these women to initiate their businesses.
“I want to see going forward the plans to help them with start-up capitals so that on their own, they can manage their lives,” she promised.
Rev. Jonathan Iddi of the Assemblies of God Church commended the MP, stating that the gesture would profoundly strengthen the widows.
“We want to express our profound gratitude to the MP for the support. In fact, life has not been easy for some of our mothers, and I think this will go a long way to help them,” he stated.
Several beneficiary widows expressed their gratitude, praying for continued blessings upon the MP.
“We are very happy for the MP; this is the third year she is supporting us with this, and we pray that the Almighty God continues to bless her,” they prayed.