Parties use health walk to woo voters
Moves by political actors to convince the electorate for their votes in most of the constituencies across the country on December 7 have been characterised with different activities, including health walks, health screening, as well as the distribution of free meals by prospective candidates.
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The same phenomenon was seen at the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in Accra last Thursday when about 500 residents of Ayigbe town, near Legon, were registered onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) free of charge.
The initiative, which was intended to address the health needs of the constituents, was under the auspices of the Parliamentary Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of the constituency, Mr Delali Emmanuel Kwasi Brempong.
Grass roots
According to him, the philosophy of the NDC is to provide the basic needs of individuals at the grass roots, “hence, our quest to ensure that everybody is enrolled onto the NHIS.
Aside from the NHIS registration, he said his campaign team had done medical screening for most communities in the constituency, including Alajo, Shiashie and Opkonglo to provide the health needs of the residents.
“Some people may be ill, but they might not be aware; others may be aware of their illness, but they may not have the resource at their disposal; hence, our intention to provide them with NHIS cards,” he said.
Ayawaso West Wuogon
The Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency has been the stronghold of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for more than two decades but Mr Brempong is optimistic of wresting power from the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko.
“In 2004, Ms Akosua Frema Osei-Opare won with a margin of 7,000 votes. In 2008, the NPP’s margin dropped to 3,000 votes and in 2012, to 1,600 votes, so if you agree with me, the NPP is losing the seat come December 7,” he said confidently.
The residents were excited at the initiative but expressed concern about the aftermath of the election, “Since our stay here in Ayigbe town is temporary,” Mr Adjaben James said.
