Wassa Amenfi East Youth Reprimand MP

Youth Alliance for Change and Development (YACaD) in Wassa Amenfi East District in the Western Region is at the throat of a Member of Parliament of the area, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, over what it terms, institutionalization of lies and deceit in the area.
The YACaD is also accusing the former Western Regional Minister, of perpetrating insults, violence and intimidation in politics in the area, at the expense of development.
Addressing a press conference at Wassa Akropong, Mr. Collins Bimpong, Chairman of the youth group, said the posturing of Mr. Aidoo, is simply unbecoming of a Member of Parliament.
He said that, during the week of funeral celebration of the late President Mills, Mr. Aidoo caused an announcement to be made to the effect that he had been sent by President John Mahama, to ECOWAS countries to inform presidents of the demise of President Mills as explanation to his inability to be at the funeral; but that turned out to be false.
“At an NPP Youth Rally held on August 28, 2012, our Honorable MP stated categorically that, he provides scholarships to over 400 students in the district. This information cannot be entirely accurate, because, from March to May this year, we embarked on a project to familiarize ourselves with challenges that our colleagues in tertiary institutions nationwide face,” he revealed.
He said, “In our interactions with the students, one issue that kept recurring was the difficulty students go through in getting money to pay fees, as well as, the lack of scholarship scheme they can source funds from in the district. With this knowledge, we are demanding the list of students the MP had helped so far, and where they come from,” he demands.
Mr. Bimpong said “At the same rally, Mr. Aidoo disclosed that he had secured employment for over 145 graduates from the district; and we want to know from the MP the graduates he was referring to and the kind of jobs he had secured for them.”
According to him, through the MP’s lies and deceit, he was able to incite some communities, that he had presented their names to the Minister of Energy for consideration to be included in the rural electrification; but the DCE had gone to the ministry to get their names deleted.
“This has resulted in the disruption of work in some parts of the district, since some communities which felt aggrieved by the MP’s disclosure, had seized high tension poles and other materials,” he said.
He said: “Recently, the MP disclosed on Solar FM at Dunkwa, that a Voltarian had stated on Kasapreko FM in Akropong, that because, ‘Wassas are stupid that is why they continuously vote for a stupid man like Boahen Aidoo.’ However, when we listened to the tape, we were shocked to realize that the allegation was a blatant lie and calculated to set Wassas against Ewes for political advantage.”
He said that Mr. Aidoo has serious record of intimidation and physical attacks, dating back to 2000, when the NPP won the election.
“In 2000, thugs associated with Mr. Aidoo, physically attacked Honorable George Boadi, the then MP and key NDC executive, Nana Amoako and Mr. Baidoo. There has been a trend of politically motivated violence through the instrumentality of Mr. Aidoo, many of which have been reported to the police at Akropong and Prestea,” he said.
Mr. Bimpong said: “It is instructive to note that members of his own party, who disagreed with him, had their share of the violence. Recently, some youth of Akropong, namely Akosua Agyeiwaa, Archer and Nicholas Amankwa, were attacked in their homes after a radio programme they participated in, and sought to educate the citizens about the poor performance of the MP.”
Mr. Bimpong said: “It is a common practice for thugs belonging to Mr. Aidoo, to attack people with dangerous weapons, and in one such attack at Afransie, one Ankwaw Badu, had to be rushed to Akropong Hospital, unconscious.”
“We want the MP to account for his stewardship for the year that he has spent in office as MP and Minister of State,” he said.
According to him, Mr. Aidoo, continuously claims that he could be countered in the league of 10 MPs, who could talk on the floor of Parliament without a script. A claim a close monitoring has proved otherwise.
“He brought the area into ridicule, when all three questions he fired during the vetting of the Vice President Kwesi Amissah in Parliament were disregarded by the Chair, and disapproved by his colleague members of the Vetting Committee,” he said.
“It is time for Mr. Aidoo to desist from lies and deceit; and also denounce intimidation and violence to ensure peace before, during and after the December 2012 elections,” he suggests.