Legislators must desist from making empty promises — Alhaji Saddique Boniface
The Minister of Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, has urged legislators to desist from making empty promises during campaigns as such promises usually marred their relationship with their constituents and also inhibited their capabilities to work well when voted into power.
“I know of parliamentarians who can’t go to their constituencies today because they failed to fulfil their promises,” he said.
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He indicated that though the role of a modern legislator goes beyond making laws to include being an agent of development, the resources made available to legislators, such as the common fund, were usually insufficient to fulfil such promises.
He, therefore, advised politicians to campaign on facilitating development rather than initiating and financing them.
“Every MP must know his level, which means if I am given a common fund of ¢40,000, I can’t say I will build a big school,” he added.
Town Hall Meeting
Alhaji Boniface made the remarks in an interview at a 2018 Town Hall Meeting held in Accra.
The meeting was organised by the Ministry of Information and the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly (LaNMMA) on the theme: “Disseminating Information on Government Policies, Programmes and Activities.”
In attendance were traditional authorities, assembly and unit committee members; divisional and district commanders from the Ghana Police Service and some senior high school (SHS) students within the municipality.
Impact
While addressing participants in the meeting, Alhaji Boniface, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Madina Constituency, mentioned some of his contributions to the constituency so far. They include sponsoring the tertiary education of some people in the constituency through, the common fund and scholarships and recommending others for various job opportunities.
He advised constituents to take issues of sanitation seriously by changing their negative attitudes as the repercussions were dire.
“Part of the problem comes from us. One thing we forget is that when the water is taking the rubbish and it goes to block the drain, it overflows its bank and the worst happens,” he noted.
Projects
The Municipal Planning Officer of the assembly, Mr Frederick Asiamah, highlighted some activities undertaken by the assembly in the past year.
They include the ongoing asphalt overlay of the Alhaji Seidu Road, and the grading of roads in the Oyarifa and Teiman townships.
Other ongoing projects in the assembly are the construction of an 18-unit classroom block for the Madina Number One Cluster of Schools which is 30 per cent complete, and the construction of a two-storey Out Patients Department at the Madina Kekele Polyclinic which is also 40 per cent complete.