Politics of Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Source: GNA

Fanteakwa North and South NDC react to Chiefs’ call

Executive members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Fanteakwa North and South constituencies of the Eastern Region have expressed discontent about a letter purported to have been written by the chiefs of the Fanteakwa traditional council.

The letter allegedly chastised the administration of Mr Abass Fuseini Sbaabe, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Fanteakwa.

This was contained in a statement issued at Begoro and signed by Mr Foster Owusu, the Secretary of the Fanteakwa North constituency and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The statement also reacted to the chiefs’ support for the candidature of Mr Collins Owusu-Appiah, a former DCE of the area.

According to the statement, in-as-much-as the chiefs had the right as stakeholders to recommend the appointment of anybody they deemed fit for positions without inhibitions, the tone and content of their letter to the presidency left much to be desired.

The statement said the chiefs’ assertion that Mr Owusu Appiah was the only party member to have bidden to be nominated and appointed as DCE was wrong.

“Nananom are not in the position to tell the number of people who have expressed interest in vying for the DCE position”.

The statement also deflated the chiefs’ claim that the current DCE lacked the supposed attributes possessed by Mr Owusu Appiah, stressing that, “the fact on the grounds do not support their claims and even a stranger in the district can tell the tremendous infrastructural development that have taken place in Mr Sbaabe’s regime.”

The chiefs in their letter to the president had indicated that Mr Sbaabe did not constantly interact with them and moreover did not disseminate regular information to the general public.

The letter also alleged that the current DCE did not respect the chiefs and other stakeholders and was as well insensitive to the plight of the people.

According to the chiefs, “Mr Sbaabe did not provide the needed tools for communal labour in the various communities,” and that “he did not respect the customary rites of the people”.

The statement debunked the above assertions, saying they would not countenance any character assassination aimed at tarnishing the image of the DCE.

“We want to state categorically that the NDC as a party will protect its members against unwarranted verbal attacks or character assassination, irrespective of where they are coming from,” it stated.

The statement called on all to allow the president to nominate the appropriate person as the DCE for the Fanteakwa District.