Independent candidate confident of winning Agotime Ziope seat
An independent candidate, Mr Elvis Ativoe, who is contesting the Agotime Ziope Constituency parliamentary seat in the Volta Region, has described Parliament as the platform for championing the needs of constituents.
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He said this could be done through successful lobbying for extra resources to augment the statutory and constitutional common fund allocated to Members of Parliament (MPs) and district assemblies.
He has, therefore, expressed confident of winning the Agotime seat because of his outstanding skills in advocacy and lobbying.
Mr Ativoe will contest against a candidate from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP).
The outgoing MP for the constituency is Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah who has served three terms, a total of 12 years in Parliament.
Popular choice
He also mentioned that he decided to contest because the people in his constituency were looking for a change, and the onus fell on him as a “popular choice.”
He said as a citizen who had exhibited skills as an executive of a youth club, organiser of festivals, as well as a deep passion to lead, he was sure of winning the seat.
While speaking to the Daily Graphic with a section of his campaign team, Mr Ativoe said he had initially wanted to contest on the ticket of the (NDC).
Functional change
He, however, gave an assurance that he and the NDC were not in each other’s throat and as such did not enter the race to antagonise the party.
He said he was contesting the seat in order to help reposition the constituency for a functional change and to reverse the general apathy and despondency that were crippling the political lives of the people.
“The youth are demanding a leader who can bring what they are looking for,” he said, adding that he is a unifier, cuts across all divides in the constituency and could build bridges.
Mr Ativoe, 44, who is a chartered accountant, said with his background, he is capable of managing both material and human resources and could go beyond the remit of the common fund and explore additional resources to facilitate the development of the constituency.
Violation
In an answer to a question on whether he had not violated a convention between the Agotimes and Ziopes by contesting, he said democracy had matured and that ideology could no longer hold water because people had changed and were prepared to put their best foot forward to win.