The Assembly Member for Apaa/Okurodu Electoral Area at Agona Nyakrom in the Agona West Constituency in the Central Region, Hon. Paul Kyerem Baah has declined to contest the up-coming elections scheduled for Dec. 17, saying it is time consuming and also drained his personal resources.
As a health worker, Mr. Kyerem disclosed that by the end of his first term, he had spent GH 5,700.00 Cedis of his personal resources on the fixing of streets lights alone, not taking into account other expenses such as school fees of some children from deprived homes in his electoral area, funeral expenses and other contributions to occasions such as wedding and naming ceremonies, all at the demand of the electorates.
Mr. Kyerem made the revelation to Ghananews247.com after the disolution of the Assembly.
He hinted that despite the fact that Assembly Members are not paid apart from sitting allowance, more often than not, members of the community disregard this facts and over-burden Assembly Members with demands, a situation he said the Assembly Member, as a representative of the people, has no option than to provide those demands.
He however proposed that if for nothing at all, Assembly Members should be given some renumeration apart from the sitting allowance as motivation to cushion them in their activities.
But despite this challenge, more people have filed their bid to contest the position when nomination was opened for the up-coming elections.
One of such aspirants is Isaac Arkoh Asante, vouching to contest for the Gomoa Benso seat in the Gomoa Central Constituency of the Central Region as Assembly Member.
According to him, the incumbent Assembly Member has failed to deliver on his promises of fixing the problems confronting the area, after two terms in office
As to how he is going to fix those problems when given the nod, Mr. Isaac Asante hinted that as a youth himself, he will galvanized the human resource of the youth in the area to embark on communal labour to fix those problems.
According to him, his vision of contesting the position did not come out of his own will, but as a result of the call by opinion leaders and the youth of the area to represent them at the Assembly.
A Nation Builders Corps [NABCO] Trainee, Samuel Kaitoo has also declared his intention to contest for the Kotokoli/Kwansakrom Electoral Area seat in the Agona East Constituency as its Assembly Member, following the decision by the incumbent not to contest again.
According to the NABCO Trainee, his zeal is to use his expertise as a youth leader in the area to help his area obtain the needed development that it deserves.
As an executive member of the youth association, Samuel Kaitoo disclosed he has been instrumental in the construction of a three Unit Classroom block by the Association for the only public school at Kwansakrom, as well as the provision of financial support to the aged and needy but brilliant students.
He said education remains his major priority and therefore assured that when given the nod, he will organize free classes for both junior and senior high school students in the area.
Another aspiring member for the Ekroful/Akropong Electoral Area in the Gomoa Central Constituency, John Kweku Essel has bemoaned the failure to repair a damaged drainage on the main Akropong-Afransi road which he said has remained a major concern of the people.
He said though the incumbent Assembly Member did what he could, his best was not good enough as he failed to lobby for the repair of the damaged drainage by the Assembly.
According to the aspiring candidate John Kweku Essel, his objective of going to the Assembly is to work to ensure that the drainage is fixed before any unfortunate incident happens.
He mentioned absence of streets lights along the Afransi stretch of the road, the delapidated nature of the Basic school at Akropong among others as some of the problems facing the area which he said need immediate attention.
A cocoa purchasing officer also contesting for the Achiase Electoral Area in the Gomoa Central Constituency, Mr. Ernest Kofi Frimpong has enumerated problems confronting his area as inaccessible road networks, inadequate public place of convenience, bad nature of the durbar grounds for public gathering, among others.
A retired head teacher, Mr. Frimpong said his aim is to go to the Assembly to be able to put across the concerns of the area before the government.
Not yet voted into office, Mr. Frimpong said he has already used his position as the head of Clan to organize the people to engage in communal labour for the development of the area.
Another contender for the Nkubem/Oteprow Electoral Area in the Agona West Constituency, Kweku Jallal Emram Adam has been tipped by the electorates as he best candidate to represent them at the Assembly.
An Accounts Officer, the electorates told Ghananews.com that Mr. Jallal Adam has contributed in diverse ways to the development of the area.
When contacted, Mr. Adam, popularly referred to by the people as J.E. said his motivation of going to the Assembly is to give back to the community what it has offered him, as he was born, bred and educated in the area, and as such he thinks one of the best ways to give back to the community is to serve the people.
He however decried the situation where some political parties are funding some candidates to go to the Assembly so as to achieve their parochial interest, a situation he said defeats the Local Government Acts which stipulates that the District Assembly Elections should be non-partisan.
The Assisim/Abronye, the Old Zongo Electoral Areas both in Agona Swedru and the Zogo/Odumase Electoral Area all in the Agona West Constituency are no exception, as the seats are hotly contested by Emmanuel Aggrey, a health worker, Ahmed Abubakar Ahmed, a social worker and Arabic teacher and Stephen Mensah, a farmer respectively.
As Mr. Emmanuel Aggrey and Mr. Stephen Mensah may have a field day at the Assissim /Abronye and Zongo/Ogumase Electoral Areas, Ahmed Abubakar may have a heculian mission to accomplish as he is contesting a popular personality who is the incumbent Assembly Member and popularly referred to by the people as ‘’Zion.’’
But Ahmed, who spoke to Ghananews.com seemed not perturbed by ‘’Zion’s’’ popularity as he also claims has made his mark in the community, in terms of the provision of social amenities.
According to him, he was part of the team that lobbied for the establishment of the Central Islamic School as well as construction of bore-holes in the community.
But Mr. Emmanuel Aggrey and Stephen Mensah seem to share a common objective of fighting sanitation if given the nod, Ahmed Abubakar says empowering the youth through technical and vocational skill remains his primary focus.
By: Robert Ayanful