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General News of Monday, 31 October 2011

Source: The Informer

Oquaye’s ‘A’ Rating

Flood Victims Pooh-Pooh

Oquaye’s ‘A’ Rating

Say His Insensitivity Has Left Us In This Mess

Flood victims of the Wednesday night’s catastrophic downpour in the Dome/Kwabenya area of the Greater Accra Region have booed the ‘A’ rating of performance of their Member of Parliament (MP), Rev. Professor Mike Ocquaye, by an international news magazine.

Residents of Taifa, Haatso, Ashongman, St. John’s, Pillar 2, Christian Village, Musuku, all in the Dome/Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, who suffered the wrath of last Wednesday’s torrential rain, have taken swipe at Mr. Steve Mallory and his Africawatch Magazine for condoning official apathy, neglect and total laziness of their MP, Professor Mike Oquaye; by rating him in the recent political office performance index ‘A’, when the fact on the ground proved contrary. They say, it is undeserving and insulting as their Member of Parliament has failed to live up to expectation as a leader and father of the constituency. According to the affected individuals, their Member of Parliament (MP) deserves no praise at all, like the magazine’s editor Steve Mallory portrays him in the performance index, when he has, in fact, shirk his responsibility as a ‘father’ of the constituents, as well as his obligations as their representative in Parliament. Auntie Adwoa Amponsah, a tomato seller at the Dome market, who spoke to our news team shortly on arrival at the market after last week’s heavy down pour, says, the insensitivity on the part of Professor Mike Oquaye, as their Member of Parliament (MP) hugely contributed to the cause of what happened to them; for having neglected the constituency as if he has no agreement with them. According to her, Hon Rev. Prof Oquaye seems to be very much happy with the terrible conditions in which we live, with all the years we voted him as our leader, in that with all the concerns raised by residents in all his electioneering campaign which he assured them of help, he has till date not honoured a single of those promises. The residents were, particular about MP Ocquaye’s pledge to solve the poor drainage system problem in the area, as well as to ensure that their roads are put in the best of shapes. “We have also maintained our loyalty to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as we did our Member of Parliament; but in spite of all this, we were the most neglected constituency when the NPP was in power. Today we make our dismay clear that even drains that was promised us, to help curb flooding condition in the area was not fulfilled”, Auntie Adwoa lamented, saying that the NPP, as well as their MP were just insensitive to their plights, which resulted in the current situation in which they find themselves. The woman said, if Professor Oquaye and his NPP had lived up to expectation and constructed the drains as promised in all the rallies he held in the Dome/Kwabenya Constituency in 2008 alone, the damage caused by last Wednesday’s flood would have been minimal. Badly affected by the flood, Auntie Adwoa Amponsah in her concluding statement appealed to President Atta Mills and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, not to rule out the Dome/Kwabenya Constituency in their better Ghana agenda, but try to urgently come to their rescue since their leader (Professor Mike Oqauye), and his NPP had neglected them . A leading NPP member and a Constituency Executive who interacted with our news-team, but pleaded anonymity for fear of victimization, said, the worst thing that has ever happened to the NPP as a political party is the choice of Professor Mike Ocquaye as their representative in Parliament. Unable to hide his anger, he stated that it would have been disastrous if the NPP had elected Mike Ocquaye Jnr during the party’s parliamentary primaries; stating that Ocquaye Jnr’s rejection by the party at the last constituency primaries came as a result of the inefficient manner his father has proven in the sight of the party; and his insensitivity to the plights of his people. He said, the road network in the area, particularly, those leading to Kwabenya and Ashogman Estates are in deplorable state, but their MP seems not to be concerned because he does not live there, adding that, the conduct of the current MP will have huge implications on the party’s fortunes in the next year’s general elections. “With the NDC’s better Ghana agenda fast gaining grounds and Madam Zita Okaikoi solidly on the grounds, it will be difficult for Adwoa Sarfo, the NPP parliamentary aspirant, to retain the seat, as a result of the disaffection that the current MP has caused the party”, he pointed. On the Africawatch ‘A’ rating of their MP, he said it is complete misjudgment since Professor Mike Ocquaye does not deserve such commendation and praise. He said, the MP would have merited the said rating if he had lived up to expectation by coming to the aid of his people and not neglected them, like he has shown. He advised that Steve Mallory and his Africawtach Magazine be wary of their findings in the near future, in order not to churn-out wrong information. It would be recalled that the Africawatch in its recent performance index rated Professor Mike Oquaye as the best performing legislator in Ghana’s parliament. This, however, is what has oiled the wheels of people anger against him as a result of his neglect of his constituents.