Bearded Okoe runs from filth to seek refuge in Parliament

It may come to many as a surprise, particularly to taxi drivers, traders and house owners within the Accra Metropolis that the Mayor, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, who once ‘tormented’ their lives, is seeking to enter Parliament to protect and fight for their ‘common good’.

Dr. Vanderpuije, The Chronicle learned, would soon vacate his comfortable seat and contest the Ablekuma Central seat on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), in his quest to join the house of honourables. The incumbent NDC MP for the area, Hon. Fritz Baffour, according to deep throat sources within the umbrella family, would not seek for re-election.

Speculations are rife that the former Information Minister has lost touch with his people and has, therefore, decided not to spend his resources into a fruitless campaign. According to inside sources, the no nonsense communicator, who was once a comedian, has no problem with Dr. Vanderpuije, as heir to the Ablekuma South seat, since he considers him (Mayor) as someone who is well resourced for the positio.

Besides that, the area is deemed a safe haven for the NDC, after it was split into two, during the 2012 elections. Dr. Vanderpuije, faced with the challenge of heaped garbage across the city, is reported to be in serious talks with the party’s grassroots support base in the area, in order to win their support for the position. According to sources, winning the support of the party’s delegates in the constituency has not been easy, as many consider him not a true party man, because of his naturalization as a US citizen.

Bearded Okoe, worried about this phenomenon, is reportedly using high ranking party officials to convince the delegates to support his bid. As things stand now, no candidate within the umbrella family in the area has publicly declared his or her intention to contest the seat, but The Chronicle is well informed that two more candidates are also secretly preparing to give Mr. Vanderpuije a run for his money at the party’s primary election somewhere next year.

The Mayor has long harboured the ambition of entering Parliament, but his US citizenship has been a hindrance. For him to succeed in joining the house of honourables, Dr. Vanderpuije must first renounce his US citizenship. He is expected to travel outside the country today with his destination not known. It is, however, not clear whether he is travelling to the US to start processes towards renouncing his citizenship or not.

He must as well stand firm to rid the city of filth before leaving his position to pursue his new ambitions, as his failure in supervising the collection of heaps of garbage across Accra has resulted in cholera outbreak. On August 5, 2014, the Ghanaian Times reported that the number of cholera cases recorded in the Greater Accra Region increased from 500 to 1,733 in just one week, with 20 deaths.

Ghana, after recording more than 10,000 cases in 2011, was ranked as the fifth most cholera endemic country in the world by the World Health Organisation (WHO).Dr. Vanderpuije’s actions and inactions in the fight against filth, coupled with his failed decongestion exercise in the city, has often brought his political clout into question, with many believing that he is only good for the classroom.

Efforts made by The Chronicle to contact the Accra Mayor to comment on the story were unsuccessful. All calls to his cell phone were not answered. He did not also return the calls, as at the time of going to press last night.