Countdown to Election 2004: KVIP Politics Hits Dzodze

Four months after about 450 voters in the village of Weta in his Ketu North constituency denounced him and his National Democratic Congress (NDC), embattled Parliamentarian Modestus Y. Z. Ahiable is still struggling to maintain the control he had once enjoyed over his people's mandate.

And pitiably the former Volta regional minister is currently being outplayed in a fresh ball game that has engulfed Dzodze, the constituency capital; the politics of who constructs better sanitation facilities for the people.

The Ketu district assembly is surely not making things easy for the troubled MP in the new survival race. Envisaging that the densely populated town is ripe to be elevated to an urban status by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, the assembly has embarked on vigorous infrastructural programmes to befit that status with much emphasis on sanitation. Against this the MP is fighting back in his own small way to, at least, win some of the credit being showered on the assembly.

When The Chronicle toured that half of the district recently, it noticed how, in the name of politics, the hearts and minds of the electorate were being desperately wooed with KVIP's. At the Fiagbedu electoral area stood two beautiful 10-seater places of convenience nearing completion in the name of two years of Positive Change.

In a chat at one of the sites, Mr. Harrison Anane, managing director of Harriana Construction Limited, which is in charge of the ?85million dual HIPC project, said the structures would be ready for commissioning in a matter of four weeks.

The area assembly man Richard Tordzro, alias Ezor, whose territory is benefiting from the project, said for the past 20 years his people had not seen anything like this. He added that the 6,000 residents in his electoral area would never forget what the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had done for them.

When asked how the people attended nature's call as there was no trace of an old toilet in the vicinity, Ezor, pointing at a bush near an ancient cemetery, replied "over there on the ground and in polyethylene bags. This gave rise to cholera in the area sometime ago"

The obviously delighted Tordzro whispered to this reporter in the presence of some women that the political history of the town would be re-written, come 2004. He also appealed for the construction of the local primary and junior secondary school, which he said, is in a deplorable state.

The primary classroom block has serious cracks and the roof is nothing to write home about. Ironically the floor of some of the classrooms had been recently cemented while the entire block remains a death trap to pupils.

The Ablorme electoral area is also blessed with two similar facilities at the same cost, while another site at Adagbleju has also been prepared for an ultra-modern water closet facility.

On his part The Chronicle noticed that the MP was also trying to leave a mark by joining the KVIP fray. Two of such areas where he has targeted are Totsuanyi and Adegbleju, where excavation and some concrete works have begun in earnest.

The latest two adds up to the five from the assembly, to make seven new such facilities springing up in the town. It is expected that by December next year Dzodze will be boasting of a double-digit number of new public places of convenience; thanks to politics.

However, a resident, who sells fresh maize by the roadside, was not too enthused with Ahiable's last minute game. She contended that doing the right thing at the wrong time is as bad as doing the wrong thing. "His government ruled for 20 years, and he was a regional minister for four years; but in spite of all the resources at the time, he is now struggling to get us a KVIP", she lamented.

At the assembly proper, the chief executive, Linus Koffie, stated that allegations that he was wasting money were not true, and that his accusers did not know what they were talking about.

Referring to those allegations as a mere sham, the DCE explained that because of its potential urban status, the town deserves bigger ideas than it is getting now. He revealed that a millennium market, the first phase of which would gulp ?2.1 billion is almost through for sod cutting.

Readers will recall that in February this year the paper, after touring the district, did a front-page story titled "Positive Change Glitters in Ketu District - 77 Projects in 2 years."

The Chronicle can tell that as a result of that story, jittery political personalities stormed the offices of Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, then sector minister to protest that the assembly was wasting resources; even though most of the projects referred to were related to health, potable water, education and roads.

Then in May, the Adrume incident also hit the newsstands, with respectable people in the community who had defected, named to back the story. It took the MP seven weeks to comment on it. This time it is Dzodze, his constituency capital. Will there be a third denial by the honorable MP?