The Communication Bureau of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Lawra Constituency in the Upper West Region says it is unhappy about an intended plan by President Akufo-Addo to snub some Chiefs and Subjects as he is set to pay a two-day working visit in the region.
According to the Lawra Constituency Communications Officer, Aloysius Daanoma, President Akufo-Addo should demonstrate leadership for all and stop being selective.
In a communique sighted by Thinknewsonline.com, he said “In our view, snubbing the other Chiefs and their subjects because of a jaundiced political perception does not bode well for a cohesive and a united nation. We, therefore, call on the President to review and revise the itinerary of his tour to the Upper West Region to demonstrate that he is, indeed, the President of the country but not the leader of a divided country”
Mr. Daanoma also explained that despite President Akufo-Addo being rejected massively by the Region following the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election, he is on behalf of the Region’s branch of the NDC welcomes the First gentleman of the land.
He noted that while welcoming President Akufo-Addo to the Region, it is significant to put on the record, the open biases in his itinerary in the selection of the areas of his tour of the region.
“Regrettably, we have observed that the President chooses to tour only the three constituencies in the Upper West Region which have representations in our Parliament on the ticket of the NPP. As the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Akufo Ado is in charge of the administration of the whole country as well as the upper West Region, and also disburses the national kitty, as he deems it fit. Therefore, he should be seen as being fair to all sections and groupings in the region regardless of political affinities. But that is not what we are seeing in this visit. What is being served to the people of the Upper West Region, is clearly a divisive strategy intended to reward those constituencies which voted for his party, whilst denying others that voted against the NPP. This is unbecoming of a President whose expectations are to be unifying and all-embracing of all manner of people who constitute the Upper West Region and the Country we call Ghana” he said.
“It is equally important to point out that in the itinerary of the President's two days tour of the region, he has selected to pay courtesy calls to only three Paramount Chiefs in the region even though there are as many as seventeen Paramount Chiefs in the Region. And glaringly, the Chiefs he will be engaging within the 3 constituencies happen to be in the constituencies which voted for the candidates of his party, the NPP in the 2020 parliamentary elections. That is Sissala East (Tumu), Lambussie, and Nandom” he stated.
“As for the courtesy call on the Wa- Naa, he has no choice but to do so because, his aircraft will be landing on the soil of the Wa-Naa, the Overlord of the Waala Traditional Area” he mentioned.
“We have observed from the President's tour that he is more on a pleasure trip to the Upper West Region than a working visit. This is because there are hardly any projects lined up either for commissioning or inspection except the Business Resource Center in Tumu and the purported inspection of some unnamed projects in Nandom” he fumed.
The Communications Officer, however, noted that the selective visit has contributed to the neglect the Upper West Region has suffered under the Akufo Addo administration in his first term adding that there have been no projects for commissioning and inspection in the Upper West Region.
“Secondly, it is very curious to observe that one of the so-called important projects of the NPP in the run-up to the 2020 elections, the "Almighty" Dikpe bridge in the Lawra Municipality/Constituency did not attract the attention of the President for inspection. This was a project whose sod cutting in November 2020 was done amidst a huge cloud of fanfare, media coverage, and pageantry. We still cannot understand why the President is not interested in ascertaining the progress of work? Why so? Is this because of the sod-cutting ceremony which was intended to be used to hoodwink the electorate of the Lawra Constituency to vote for the NPP in the 2020 elections? Since then, the site has been abandoned for rodents, reptiles, and ruminants as their new habitat. Nine months have passed since then and there is absolutely no activity at the site. We ask Mr. President, when is the construction of the Dikpe Bridge going to start, or has it become one of the failed promises?” he pointed out.
The NDC says it is also concerned about the treatment being meted out to the Lawra-Naa, Naa Puowelle Karbo lll in particular in the scheme of things.
He explained “From President’s itinerary, he will drive through Lawra on his way to visit Nandom and Lambussie and also on his way back to Wa to enplane again to Accra. And yet the President has not found time and space in his itinerary to pay a courtesy call on the Lawra-Naa, the Father of the immediate past NPP Member of Parliament for Lawra, Hon. Anthony Karbo. We fail completely to appreciate the import of the President’s action. Indeed we are pained as a people of the Lawra Constituency to be treated the way H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo the President of the Republic of Ghana has treated us”
The Communication Bureau of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it is calling on President Akufo-Addo to widen the scope of his tour to include the other constituencies and Paramountcy in the areas in the region.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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