- demand meeting Earstern-minded President Akufo-Addo
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Effiduase/Asokore Constituency, is unhappy about the political development of the Ashanti region and how gradually, voters are turning against those that they have voted for to represent them in Parliament.
Interestingly, the MPs in the Ashanti Region, are demanding a meeting urgently with President Akufo-Addo, over the poor nature of roads in the region.
“Where you get your votes, you have decided not to send your money there; you have decided to turn away from the Ashanti region and construct an interchange in some region, yet, you will turn back to the Ashanti region for votes; are we alright?
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, disclosed that “No NPP MP is happy [with the development]; no Ashanti MP is happy. We have told [those in government], and they are aware. Decisions in the Ashanti region are executive decisions and rest on the President; it is the President, Minister of Roads and Finance that will say, there is no money…”
Kyebi, Abomosu and many towns in the Eastern Region, where President Nana Akufo-Addo and Roads Minister Amoako Atta and Finance Minster, Ken Ofori-Atta come from, have seen massive development since the inception of the current administration, however, Kumasi and most part of the Ashanti Region where the bulk of NPP votes come from, remain neglected, and this has been a point of bitterness in the ruling party’s stronghold.
The Chairman of the Ashanti Caucus, Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, who disclosed attempts to have a meeting with the President, said although some roads have been fixed and they commend government for that, more needs to be done as there is a lot of pressure from their constituents.
“We have Kwabre East –the roads within Kwabre East are very bad and there are constituencies like Manso Adobea, Nkwanta, Bantama, Kwadaso…, Asante Akyem North and South. So virtually, all the constituencies have some concerns which are roads,” Kwame Anyimadu Antwi said.
Speaking on Wontumi TV on Wednesday, July 20, the Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, had explained that, those who are to decide the development are the Ministers of state – the Finance Minister and Roads and Highways Minister – and not MPs.
According to the medical doctor turned politician had charged on the government over its distribution of the developmental resources saying “It is the decision they (central government) make, and the electorates will turn and attack the MPs instead of the decision-makers. You don’t attack the MP; you should attack the people who have the money.
The MP stated that because some decisions from the government affect them, they become the easy target.
“Nothing happens to the Minister of Roads and Minister of Finance that take the decisions, but the MPs are attacked just because of their decisions. Is that the right thing? Whatever they are doing is totally needless,” he stressed.
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye served a warning “when I start going hard on the government, nobody should talk to me.”
Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, MP, Suame, was attacked by some angry residents within his constituency over the poor nature of the roads on Monday, July 18.
The MP, who was in his constituency, was accosted by the angry residents with some throwing various items in his direction and hooting at him.
It took the timely intervention of the Police to calm tension and shield the MP from harm.
The residents had organised a demonstration and called on authorities to ensure work resumes on the stretch.
After escaping the attack, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu addressed the media and assured stakeholders that efforts were being put in place to complete work on the road as early as possible.
He also said he understood the anger of his constituents.
“If they are really angry that it has been a while since the scraping of the surface and the dust is killing them, certainly when they see any government official, they will vent their spleen on the person. So I am not worried,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
According to Mr Anyimadu Antwi, the Ashanti MPs believe that if road projects in the region are completed, constituents’ trust in the government will increase.
He added that the leadership of the Ashanti Caucus will also raise other issues of concern such as electricity in the region in due time.
Reacting to this, Mr Anyimadu Antwi condemned the attack on the Majority Leader and called his constituents to exercise restraint as they lobby the government to fix the roads.
“We highly condemn this act. I am not sure Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has been given resources that he had to use within the region which has not been used.”
He further urged the residents of Suame who took part in the attack to apologise to Mr Kyei-Mensa-Bonsu.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has alleged that the NPP staged the attack on the Majority Leader.
This is according to the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Roads and Transport Committee, Kwame Governs Agbodza.
According to him, the attack was planned by the NPP to fast-track the loan approval for the 4-tier interchange at Suame.
The Adaklu legislator in a tweet on Tuesday, July 19, urged the public to disregard the same.
“Ignore the so-called demo at Suame regarding bad roads. It was planned and executed by the NPP to Fasttrack the approval of millions of euros to build a 4-tier interchange at Suame.”
