Anum Apapam residents abroad fire Ayensuano MP over failed leadership

The Anum Apapam Global Team Association also known as Apass Global Team, made up of natives of Anum Apapam and its surrounding communities in the Eastern Region living abroad have accused the Member of Parliament for the Area, Ayeh Paye for failing to address the infrastructural deficits in the area particularly poor road networks which forms part of essential amenities required for economic growth and improved living standards.

"We the Anum Apapam Global Team Association think that is time to end the many months of failed leadership. We are serving notice that, we will act and bring to light the failed leadership paralysis of our elected Members of Parliament in the last two decades"

According to the Association, it is mind boggling to note that the Member of Parliament for Ayensuano, Ayeh Paye, is the chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee in Parliament yet the constituency is faced with chronic deplorable road networks deepening hardship among residents.

Adding, the bad road networks in the area has given rise to the use of motorbike as the major means of transport.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary of the Anum Apapam Global Association, Nana Yaw, and copied to Ghanaweb in response to publication of alleged sexual exploitation of students by Okada riders in the area.

The Association stated that, "In as-much-as we thank Government for the social investment in education in the Anum Apapam Community, we wish to bring to the attention of all loving members of the Anum Apapam area that the alleged exploitation of Senior High Schools girls by Commercial Motor Bike Transporters or Commuters, also known as Okada in local parlance, for sexual favors as was carried in the news is a symptom of the long systemic neglect and failure by the Member of Parliament to engage the communities, the leadership of the school and our association in working together to resolve these and other issues of underdevelopment in the Anum Apapam Community and the Ayensuano Constituency".

According to the Association, "It is trite knowledge that Students from the Anum Apapam township walk about 5 kilometers each school day to the newly built senior high school in the community. This situation has compelled these students to ride or commute on commercial motor bikes on the deplorable roads with no protective helmet."

"Following in the midst of these problems is the reported unfortunate elicitation of alleged sexual favors from some of the motor bike riders, an allegation which has since been denied by the Chairman of the Motor Bike Association in the area."

The statement said "such situations speak bad of the people especially the motor riders whose services are well intended to help solve the commute problems that is faced by the students. However, we think the lack of a functioning bus for the school in addition to the bad road network is creating tensions that is not good for the peaceful social life in the Anum Apapam Community," hence called on government to provide school Bus for the Community Day Senior High School in the area and construct the road.

Bellow is the full statement issued;

RE: Okada Riders Threaten to Withdraw Services to Anum Apapam SHS; Okada Riders Exploiting Anum Apapam SHS Girls Over Bad Roads

Following the News Publication on Ghanaweb and related various News Portals on Sunday, 28th October 2018 and Tuesday, 23rd Oct 2018 with respect to the above headlines, we the concerned natives of Anum Apapam and its surrounding communities resident abroad kindly ask that this rejoinder be given the same publicity and publication as with the above news items.

The Anum Apapam Global Team Association (alias Apass Global Team) , an association of native residents abroad of the Anum Apapam Communities, whose interest is to see to the needed development especially of the Anum Apapam and its surrounding Communities in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, wish to respond to the news article carried on various online portals and Ghanaweb about sexual exploitation of girls in the Anum Apapam Community Day Senior High School due to the poor nature of roads in the Ayensuano District.

In as-much-as we thank Government for the social investment in education in the Anum Apapam Community, we wish to bring to the attention of all loving members of the Anum Apapam area that the alleged exploitation of Senior High Schools girls by Commercial Motor Bike Transporters or Commuters, also known as Okada in local parlance , for sexual favors as was carried in the news is a symptom of the long systemic neglect and failure by the Member of Parliament to engage the communities.

The leadership of the school and our association in working together to resolve these and other issues of underdevelopment in the Anum Apapam Community and the Ayensuano Constituency.

We have also seen and watched similar news items carried by UTV on the poor nature of the road networks in other parts of the Ayensuano District.

None of these news items, as far as we know, have seen responses or a rejoinder from the Member of Parliament, who is the face of the Constituency.

It appears the welfare of the Anum Apapam Community is on auto pilot and at the mercies of the personal interest of our elected Members of Parliament in the last two decades.

We the Anum Apapam Global Team Association think that is time to end the many months of failed leadership. We are serving notice that, we will act and bring to light the failed leadership paralysis of our elected Members of Parliament in the last two decades.

We do not understand why our current Member of Parliament, who is the chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee in Parliament, has not found it prudent to respond to the news article and to assure the community about what measures he is taking to ensure that students are safe.

The bad road networks in the constituency is an eyesore for a constituency that has its Member of Parliament as the Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee of Ghana's Parliament.

We ask, how has the Constituency benefited from the Member of Parliament's privileged status? Especially given that , the District or Constituency , due to historical neglect, is one of the deprived and underdeveloped ones in the Eastern Region. This we believe is a function of the dysfunctional leadership of our Members of Parliament over a long period of lax leadership.

A situation we find disturbing and worrying especially when no proactive action has been taken. We ask again; of what benefit has the Member of Parliament Common Fund been put to use in the Ayensuano constituency? We will be glad if all projects so far executed with the MP's Common Fund is matched against funds received so far since 1992.

We, as stakeholders in the development of the Anum Apapam Community , will want to understand and be informed about how resources meant for the constituency are been put to use for the communities.

A process we will carry to the fullest in service to our people regardless of who is elected as our Member of Parliament in the constituency.

Now, to the substantive issue of the bad road networks leading to the Senior High School. It is trite knowledge that Students from the Anum Apapam township walk about 5 kilometers each school day to the newly built senior high school in the community.

This situation has compelled these students to ride or commute on commercial motor bikes on the deplorable roads with no protective helmet. Following in the midst of these problems is the reported unfortunate elicitation of alleged sexual favors from some of the motor bike riders, an allegation which has since been denied by the Chairman of the Motor Bike Association in the area.

We believe that such situations speak bad of the people especially the motor riders whose services are well intended to help solve the commute problems that is faced by the students.

However, we think the lack of a functioning bus for the school in addition to the bad road network is creating tensions that is not good for the peaceful social life in the Anum Apapam Community.

A concern we are worried about

It is sad to also know that the Community Day Senior High School has not been connected to electricity since its inception over two years ago. This has made administrative work very difficult for teachers and students.

We wish to kindly call on the Member of Parliament to immediately engage the school and authorities in providing a bus for the school to resolve the urgent commute problem and to convey or transport these innocent students in a safe environment to and from school .

Meanwhile, it baffles us that since the news was carried by Ghanaweb and other news portals, our Member of Parliament has not had the urgency of time to visit or even place a call to the school and to understand these concerns. In fact, we are so disappointed and will like to see action from our elected Member of Parliament on these issues.

He must be proactive and result oriented and that the days of weak leadership for Ayensuano through our Members of Parliament cannot continue to deprive our communities the needed development it long deserved.

We kindly ask Government to see to the completion of all road networks, especially major linking roads in the District given that the District has no major tarred road including the road linking the biggest market or hub for economic activities in Anum Apapam to the District Capital in Coaltar.

It is an undeniable fact that the market at Anum Apapam serves as a huge source of economic activities and provides source of food to the District, Region and the Nation's Capital. It is therefore a social injustice that a Community that serves such an important function will have its road networks in such a bad state.

In the wake of the above misfortunes, we call on all loving natives of Anum Apapam to remain calm and be hopeful that we shall stand in defense of the development of the Community and will work with anybody interested in bringing development to them.

We want them to know that we have tried unsuccessfully to fully engage their elected Member of Parliament in the last one year hence our resolve to take to this cause of action and similar ones we intend to use as tools to correct the long neglect of development to the people.

We hold no malice against any official, all we want is responsible leadership that is sensitive to the plights of the Anum Apapam Community and the Ayensuano Constituency .

We are open to working with all interested partners in the development of Anum Apapam and the Ayensuano constituency regardless of Political Party Affiliation, Race and Religion. God bless us all. God Bless Anum Apapam and the Ayensuano Constituency.