Campaign for Awutu Senya East intensifies
With a few weeks to the December 7 polls, the campaign for the Awutu Senya East parliamentary seat in the Central Region has reached a boiling point.
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Parliamentary contestants have intensified their campaign in all the corners of the new constituency which was carved from the then Awutu–Senya Constituency.
Four candidates are contesting the seat. They are Nana Kweku Appiah–Kwarteng of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Adams Nuhu of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mavis Hawa Koomson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Abbey Ishmael Nii Afum of the Convention People’s Party (CPP.)
Candidates upbeat
The incumbent MP is campaigning vigorously to retain the parliamentary seat and for the party to also win the presidential slot.
Madam Hawa Koomson noted that the NPP government under President Kufuor upgraded the Kasoa main road and rolled out many social intervention programmes which Nana Akufo-Addo would continue if the electorate vote massively for the NPP as expected on December 7.
Both the PPP and CPP supporters have also been campaigning day in day out for votes in the spirit of ‘never say die’ to make a positive impact.
The Municipal Chief Executive Officer [MCE] of Awutu Senya East, Dr Adams Nuhu, who is vying for the position on the ticket of NDC, at the weekend continued his door-to-door campaign to solicit votes to win the seat.
At Kasoa Top Town, Dr Nuhu told the Daily Graphic that he was confident that his party would win both the presidential and the parliamentary elections in the Awutu Senya East because of the NDC’s massive development projects dotted all over the constituency.
He said contrary to claims that he was not popular in the constituency, a visit to the grass roots would reveal that he was popular and liked by many people.
He added that all he wanted was a peaceful, clean election that would further boost the image of Ghana as far as credible elections were concerned.
NCCE debate
In a related development, the Awutu Senya East Municipal National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has organised a debate for the parliamentary candidates.
Three candidates out of the four aspirants participated in the debate at Kasoa. They are Nana Kweku Appiah–Kwarteng of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Mavis Hawa Koomson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Abbey Ishmael Nii Afum of the Convention People’s Party (CPP). The National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) Dr Adams Nuhu, who is also the Municipal Chief Executive of Awutu Senya East, could not participate.
They were quizzed on how their various parties intended to fix the challenges in the areas of sanitation, flooding, unemployment, robbery, land guards, teenage pregnancy, agriculture among other areas should they be given the mandate by the electorate on December 7.
Sanitation
On sanitation, Nana Appiah-Kwarteng noted that he would team up with the municipal assembly to acquire dustbins to be placed at vantage points across the length and breadth of his constituency.
He also said he would liaise with city guards to implement bye–laws on sanitation.
For his part, Nii Abbey Afum of the CPP explained that his party would engage many young people in the sanitation field to keep the environment clean.
He added that the CPP would also embark on public education on sanitation and provide different receptacles for waste to be separated in terms of liquid, solid and organic waste for easy disposal.
NPP’s Hawa Koomson said an NPP government would engage Zoomlion like they did in the past to take care of sanitation.
Flooding
PPP’s parliamentary candidate noted that he would liaise with the Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly to enforce the bye-laws that guide the putting up of buildings at the right places and not on watercourses to cause flooding.
Additionally, he said he would liaise with the municipal assembly to drain the Okrudu River at Kasoa periodically.
When it came to the turn of Mad. Koomson, she said she would collaborate with an NPP central government if they win the election to construct a big drainage culvert on the Okrudu River at Kasoa to prevent flooding once and for all during the rainy season as was done at Alajo in Accra during Kufuor’s era.
Jobs
Nii Abbey, in response to CPP’s strategy to create jobs, hinted that the CPP would site three factories in Awutu Senya East to engage more youth who need jobs in the area.
For her part, Mad. Koomson noted that her party, if voted into power, would strengthen the Youth Employment Programme Modules introduced and implemented under Kufuor’s administration for more jobs to be created for the youth in the areas of health, police and teaching.
Education
On education, Nana Appiah-Kwarteng said it was strange that a country that had only one natural resource had made it while Ghana, with over 39 natural resources, was still struggling, suggesting that the PPP would correct the trend if voted into power by mobilising funds to be invested in education.
Madam Koomson, who is a trained teacher herself, said she would work hand in hand with the Ghana Education Service in her municipality to provide teaching and learning materials to both public and private schools in her area.
CPP’s Nii Afum said his party was not going to depart from free education which their Founder, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, initiated when he was President, adding that teachers would be motivated to perform effectively.
Agriculture
In the area of agriculture, the CPP candidate said they would support farmers and fishermen with training, inputs and soft loans to expand their work.
PPP’s Appiah–Kwarteng noted that the PPP would create a large market for farmers and fishermen to sell their produce in order to earn more income for a better standard of living.
