I did not influence members — Former MP

A former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Sissala East Constituency, Hajia Halutie Dubie Alhassan, has denied interfering in the activities of the Sissala East District Assembly by influencing members of the assembly to vote against Mr Bavie, the President’s nominee as DCE for the area.

“I have not been in Tumu for a long time and so I do not see why my name should be mentioned that I influenced some members of the assembly with money not to endorse the President’s nominee” she said.

She emphasised and pointed out that “It is completely false that I doled out money to some members of the assembly to induce them to reject Mr Bavie”.

Hajia Dubie Alhassan waded into the controversy surrounding the rejection of Mr  Bavie,  and said the people of the constituency had no other option than to unite and forge ahead.

That, she said, was the only way they could enhance the development of the area.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Hajia Dubie Alhassan said the development of Tumu, and for that matter the entire Sissala East district,  was dear to her and therefore, would not do anything to derail that objective.

She, therefore, denied interfering in the activities of the district assembly or influencing members of the assembly to vote against Mr Bavie.

Hajia Dubie Alhassan also urged members of the assembly to refrain from dragging her into their internal wrangling and called on them to bury their differences.

She expressed appreciation to all who supported her during her tenure as MP for the area and advised the people to remain focused in their deliberations.

The Sissala East Constituency could be described as one of the political hot beds in the Upper West Region with the NDC and the Peoples National Convention (PNC) at each other’s throat for the parliamentary seat during elections.

The PNC had in the past won the seat, which it described as its baby but had lost it to the NDC over the past eight years.

Similarly, the position of DCE for the district had been keenly contested over the years and so to many people, the rejection of Mr Bavie during the last assembly session was a normal practice.

The people are still looking forward to President Mahama to renominate Mr Bavie or another candidate to spearhead the development of the district.

By Chris Nunoo/Daily Graphic/Ghana