NDC charges at NPP Chairman

The National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Chairman of the Nkoranza South Constituency, Mr. Owusu Baffour Awuah, has censured the National Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Peter Mac Manu, accusing him of breaching the 1992 constitution.

According to the NDC Constituency Chairman, the 1992 Constitution has clearly stated that Chiefs should not involve themselves in active party politics, but this he said, Mr. Mac Manu had violated when he virtually dragged the Chiefs at the Nkoranza North Constituency, numbering about sixteen, into the campaign activities of the NPP.

He said, “Although a responsible Chairman,Mr. Manu’s involvement of Chiefs from the Nkoranza North, was something every Ghanaian interested in democratic dispensation must be wary about”.

Mr. Awuah, who was speaking to ‘The Chronicle’ in an interview in reaction to media reports that the NPP had met with Chiefs from Fiagya, (known as the Nkoranza North) to solicit their support to rally behind the party to maintain the seat. Nana Eric Amoateng, currently languishing in the cells of America, is the MP of the area.

According to Mr.Awuah, even though the NDC respected the role of Chiefs as custodians of the land, the party also considers as equally important the constitutional requirement that barred Chiefs from their involvement in active party politics and expected they would not do any thing in contradiction of the Constitution.

He revealed that on June 4, this year, Mr. Mac Manu and other party functionaries, including the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Asamoah Boateng, assembled some Chiefs from Nkoranza North at Yefri and asked them to back the NPP to retain the parliamentary seat in a yet-to-be-declared bye-election in the area.

Mr. Awuah also made other series of allegations against the ruling government pertaining to the development of the area.

According to him, following the looming bye-election in the Nkoranza North, government had been, pushing many development projects there to the detriment of the South.

He also stated that as far as they in the NDC were concerned both the North and South are the same and argued that it would be politically suicidal for the NPP government to discriminate against those of them in the south.

He disclosed that currently because of the bye-election, a lot of projects such as electrification, shaping of feeder roads, supply of farm inputs like fertilizers and granting of loans to women groups were intensified in the Nkoranza North, whilst a single project has not being sent to the South.

But, when The Chronicle contacted the NPP National Chairman on the phone, he denied being involving Chiefs in any active form of politics.

According to Mr. Mac Manu, he accompanied the Local Government Minister, Mr. Stephen Asamoah Boateng, who was to meet the Chiefs on developmental issues in the area.

He told the paper that being the Chairman of the party, he decided to meet his party Executives, both Regional and Constituency,in the Brong Ahafo Region, to discuss issues bordering on the party in the Constituency.

On his part, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. James Kwabena Appiah Awuah, denied the entire allegations, saying all that Mr. Baffour said were baseless, describing them as some of the lies of the NDC.

On the farm inputs, for instance, he disclosed that the NDC Chairman himself had benefited from some of the inputs such as fertilizers.

According to the DCE, contrary to the speculations, the District received 5000 bags of fertilizers, which were distributed fairly in both Constituencies.

To buttress his point, the DCE counted a number of farming groups in the South that had benefited from the package and named some of them as; Moadenbo Ye, Enso Nyame Ye, Onyame Bekyere, Onyame Akwan, God is Able Society, Adu Gyamfi Yam and Maize Farmers and Hyireso Maize Farmers Associations.

On electrification, the DCE disclosed that currently some villages in the South like Mpem, Jerusalem, Nyinase, Asempanaye, Ouagadougou, Bepoase, Asukwa, Asunafo and Proso were currently receiving their supplies of electric poles.

Mr.Awuah also disclosed that the re-shaping of roads was a normal routine maintenance that the Assembly and the central government were undertaking in the Nkoranza District.

He said following the muddy nature of the land in the District, it always demanded the reshaping of the feeder roads.