Accra, April 08,- A group of
National Democratic Congress (NDC) members in Tema West have expressed their
willingness to vote for the ruling New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament in
the 2020 general election.
They think that meritocracy,
rather than party fanatism, should dictate vote casting and have pledged their
votes to the ruling NPP’s likely Parliamentary candidate for 2020.
“Unless the NPP does not present
Honourable Carlos Ahenkorah in 2020, if they do, we will all vote for him,”
says Kofi Mensah, a member of the‘Concerned Members of the NDC in Tema West.’
According to Mr Mensah, Mr
Ahenkorah, who is the current sitting MP for Tema West had his vote already,
two and a half years ahead of the Parliamentary elections in 2020, but his
Presidential vote was not reserved for President Akufo-Addo.
“I will vote for Carlos Ahenkorah
in the 2020 Parliamentary election, but will vote for the Presidential
Candidate that my party, the NDC, will bring.”
He explained that Carlos would
have his vote because the MP had impressed so well as a legislator, a position
that was re-echoed by Sarah Otoo, another member of the group, “And yes, if
President Akufo-Addo too manages to impress me within the remainder of his tenure,
I will vote for him in 2020 even though I am an unrepentant member of the NDC,”
Ms Otoo said.
The two NDC members explained
that in the new wave of meritocracy, Carlos Ahenkorah had successfully wooed
their conscience with his hands-on performance which benefited many, including
themselves, in the constituency irrespective of their political difference.
Kofi Mensah catalogued Mr
Ahenkorah’s achievements in less than one year in office to include; the
construction of canteens for all public schools across the constituency,
distribution of thousands of furniture, especially dual desks to schools and
the furnishing of all the public schools with modern text and exercise books.
He has secured jobs for many
people.
The MP is also credited with
setting up an office for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for the
constituency and refurbishing the Tema Polyclinic office of the scheme and has
also secured scholarships for many medical students from the constituency to
study abroad.
Mr Mensah also points out that in
less than a year into his stewardship, the MP had built a modern incinerator
for the Tema Polyclinic.
“Hon Carlos Ahenkorah’s
performance so far is only second to the record of our first ever MP, Hon.
Abraham Ossei Aidooh,” Mr Mensah said.
“Hon. Aidooh, a respected father
figure in Tema politics is credited, among many other things, with securing the
connection of Lashibi to the national electricity grid. A former Majority
Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, also championed multi-party
democracy in Tema and it is therefore a big deal that Carlos Ahenkorah has
attained comparison to him.
“We in Tema West are grateful to
President Akufo-Addo that our MP was appointed Deputy Minister of Trade,but I
dare say that he even deserves to be a substantive Minister. At the rate that
he is performing, he has won the hearts of the constituents and I can say that
he will continue to be elected so long as he puts himself up for elections,”
Mr. Mensah said.
On her part, Sarah Otoo praised
the MP’s personal, hands-on assistance to constituents to secure loans,
irrespective of political affiliation, which had helped her friends to secure
loans in order to enable them pre-finance their contract with the school
feeding programme and was in the process of setting up a loan scheme for
Polling station executives in the constituency, she pointed out.
“Look, I know that it is not
everybody who has benefited directly, like my friends have, but you know what
the Bible says, different people’s blessings come at different times; today it
is my friends, tomorrow it would be someone else.
“I know for a fact that it is not
everybody who likes Carlos in Tema West, Even the Bible says that woe betides
you if all people love you,” Sarah Otoo said.
She said members of the Concerned
Members of NDC in Tema West were a little above five hundred and they were
generally planning to vote for Carlos Ahenkorah in 2020, even though most do
not have the courage to step out and speak up like she did.
Notwithstanding the pledges from
the NDC Concerned members for the MP, there are disturbing developments that
some members of the NPP are making some financial demands in order to allow him
to go unopposed.
A member of the NPP group who
spoke to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on condition of anonymity said; ”As Tema West is a stronghold of the NPP, the
Constituency Executives are allegedly saying that monetary settlement by Mr
Ahenkorah is effectively his purchase of a one way ticket to re-election in
2020.”
The source said the Polling
Station executives were making the demand because there was no indication
whatsoever that anybody would want to challenge Mr Ahenkorah in the party’s
upcoming primary.
“The MP is enjoying a lot of
goodwill, less than a year into office as Legislator with many supposedly
poised to re-vote him into the Legislature. However, even in a race between the
tortoise and the hare, the work of the umpire would count.”
The source said the Polling
Station executives are allegedly threatening to sabotage Mr Ahenkorah if he did
not give them money by either voting for an opposition candidate or put up a
candidate to challenge him at the primaries.
GNA
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