“Don’t Contest 2020 elections”, Concerned Youth of Odotobri NPP to Hon. Akwasi Gyamfi

A group called, The Concerned Youth of Odotobri NPP has sent a warning to their Member of Parliament, Hon. Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, to refrain from even picking the nomination form for the upcoming NPP constituency primaries. They also indicated that, if the NPP wants to get votes from Odotobri constituency then they should advice Hon. Akwasi from contesting. Gordon Denkyira, the Chairman of the group, revealed this in a press conference on Tuesday, the 27^th August, 2019 at Jacobu.

The group stated that since Hon. Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi became MP in 2004, they haven’t seen any major developmental projects by the law maker and his relationship with all four District Chief Executives of the district since he became MP has never been the best. They also accused him of not being accountable to the constituents with regards to the usage of the MP’s common fund.

“It is time we make a change in the choice of our Parliamentary candidate for the 2020 election. It is time to look for a candidate who will seek the kind of unity which will translate into the development of our district”, the group said.

Read the full statement below:

PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE CONCERNED YOUTH OF ODOTOBRI NPP ON FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES CONCERNING OUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (HON. EMMANUEL AKWASI GYAMFI). – Tuesday, 27th August, 2019

Good morning members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am Gordon Denkyira the Chairman of the group. We have been very dedicated and hardworking members of the NPP for many years.

Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen, Hon Akwasi Gyamfi was elected member of Parliament for the Constituency on the ticket of the NPP because the Constituency was of the view that when he gets to Parliament he will work very hard as a member of Parliament together with the DCE party officials at the Constituency level, the government in power and members of the District Assembly to bring rapid transformation and development to the constituency and also uplift the image of the constituency in all aspects of life.

It was with hope for a brighter and better future that members of the constituency entrusted its destiny to the MP. He was elected in 2004 which means that in 2020 he would have been MP for 16 years.

Press Conference has become necessary because the constituency has become frustrated by the failure of the MP to bring any meaningful development and progress to the constituency.

We the youth of the party want to draw the attention of the leadership of the party at the National, Regional and Constituency level to some fundamental problems which have remained unresolved for the past 15 years.

REASONS WHY THE YOUTH WANT OUR MP NOT TO CONTEST THE 2020 ELECTIONS.

Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen these are the fundamental issues and problems facing the constituency that are making it difficult for us to continue to support our MP.

SURVEY CONDUCTED BY UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen, another important reason for this Press conference is the fallout from the publication in the Daily Graphic of June, 2019 conducted within the Odotobri Constituency by Dr. Isaac Owusu Mensah, Kaakyire Frimpong and Konrad Adenuer Stiftung.

The Survey revealed that Hon. Akwasi Gyamfi over the past 15 years has been very very unsatisfactory. In fact, the survey placed him among the worst 10 members of parliament in the country out of 275 MPs.

The survey also demonstrated that a very large percentage of the people of Odotobri constituency are completely dissatisfied with the performance of their MP. The survey stated “generally, poor performance on the part of the elected induces apathy in the electorate”. The boomerang from this survey is that Odotobri has become a laughing stock and the subject of cruel jokes from people in the constituency across the political divide.

We the youth of the NPP who have toiled over the years for the party to come to power and to retain the constituency are afraid that if something is not done now we will lose not only the elections for the MP but that our presidential candidate will also lose.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the press, since June, 2019 when this survey was published by the daily graphic and discussed extensively on

radio and TV as well as social media the Hon. MP has remained silent and continues to remain silent. As we all know silence means consent and in the case of our MP silence means a genuine and voluntary acceptance by our MP that indeed and in fact his performance as an MP has been very poor.

if it were in the primary school class system, he would have repeated his class for being at the very bottom of the class.

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MP’S COMMON FUND

Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen this refers to MP’s share of the District Assemblies Common Fund. The MPs Common Fund was created in 1997 as a result of demands from MPs for some form of financial assistance to undertake development projects within the MPs

Constituency. It is sad to note that since 2004 there has been no transparency and accountability in the manner the MPs Common Fund is

We demand accountability from the Hon. Member of Parliament. The youth of Odotobri have every right to know what our Mps Common Fund

has been used for.

In other Constituencies the way and manner the MPs Common Fund is used is not shrouded in secrecy. We are aware of massive infrastructural development by MPs from other Constituencies. We challenge the Hon. Akwasi Gyamfi to come and point visible projects that he has done with his common fund for the past 16 years and also cause the District Assembly to publish the Statement of Accounts for disbursements so far made together with all supporting documents. It is not enough for you do go on air to say that you have bought roofing sheets and paid school fees for members of our community. We deserve better than that.

It is common knowledge that in the Asawase constituency a sitting MP has used his common fund to build libraries, schools and roads. What is interesting is that the MP for Asawase and our own MP went to parliament in 2004. While members of Asawase are smiling we are in tears. It is very sad that an NDC MP in a very deprived part of the country has been able to

use his fund to transform the lives of his people while our MP whase party is in power has failed to do so.

CONTRIBUTION TO CONSTITUENCY AS CHAIRMAN OF MINES AND ENERGY COMMITTEE

We were initially excited when we heard about the appointment of the Non. MP as the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy. We know what former chairpersons of the Committee have been

able to do for their communities. In our case it is sad to note that Odotobri is still in the dark. It is very sad that we have not benefited from the extensive electrification project. Even with his role as the chairman for the committee with oversight responsibility for mines and energy our MP could not use his influence to light up our communities.

Unfortunately, he does not have any substantial contributions regarding energy or mines to boast since he became chairman of the committee.

It is important to note that this Press conference is not against the MP as an individual but against him in his capacity as the lawful representative of the people of Odotobri for which he has failed abysmally.

KOBRO FOREST ISSUE.

Not too long ago the Hon. MP used his position to make very damaging allegations about the Regional Chairman of the NPP (Wuntumi), the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission (Sir John) and the Honorable DCE of Amansie Central District to the effect that the 3 were depleting the Kobro Forest where they were engaged in illegal mining (galamseY).

This allegation did not only generate controversy in the Nation as all illegal mining activities had been banned by the government but also embarrassed the leaders and made our party a laughing stock. Investigations later revealed that the allegations were unfounded.

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ASSEMBLYMEN, CONSTITUENCY EXECUTIVES AND DELEGATES.

One would have thought that as MP Hon. Akwasi Gyamfi would be a unifier who would rally the Constituency Executives, delegates and the Assemblymen together to Champion thegood course of the Constituency/District. He has rather been very vindictive to the extent  that he does not even visit some of the communities which he wrongly believes

to be against him.

We consider his strategy to divide and rule as a very selfish move which  has led to poor relationship with the Assemblymen who are at thegrass roots and who are to help him implement the development of the District.

Relationship with District Chief Executives.

We the Concerned Youth of Odotobri NPP have been very patient and have observed over the years that the Hon. MP has not had a cordial relationship with any of the 4 District Chief Executives that have been appointed to serve the District since its inception. Over time the MP has clearly demonstrated his inability to work with all the 4 District Chief Executives during his tenure. These controversies have on some occasions arisen as a result of the lack of transparency with regard to the MPs Common Fund. Our MP has failed because of his deliberate refusal and poor human relations with these DCEs that has led to the lack of development in our constituency.

THE HOSTILE POSTURE OF THE MP TOWARDS THE PRESIDENT.

Think about how important unity is in Government. It is a well known fact that disunity in any government makes planning complicated and delivery almost impossible. It is therefore surprising that our MP cannot appreciate this basic fact and has continuously stood against the dreams of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akoffo Addo.

It is a well known fact that our MP before Nana Addo’s aigned presidency openly campaigned against him. But the truth of the matter is that His Excellency, Nana Addo is now the president of the Republic of Ghana and one would have expected the Hon. MP to work with thepresident for the progress of the Constituency. Rather the Hon. Member has distanced himself from the presidency to the detriment of our District. Even when H.E. Nana Addo was a presidential candidate, he donated GHC20,000.00 for the District Capital’s water project which now serve the people of Jacobu. This indicates that H.E. Nana Addo could have done more for our constituency.

It is time we make a change in the choice of our Parliamentary candidate for the 2020 election. It is time to look for a candidate who will seek the kind of unity which will translate into the development of our district.

PERFORMANCE ON THE FLOOR OF PARLIAMENT.

There are rules and customs which inform the way and manner Mps conduct their business in Parliament. One of such basic rule or custom is the Standing Orders of Parliament. The Standing Orders of Parliament guarantees freedom of speech, debate and proceedings and this freedom cannot be questioned in any place outside Parliament. (Not even in the Court of law). It is therefore disturbing to note that our MP irrespective of the privileges and immunities, hardly contributes on the floor of Parliament.

We consider this to be a very serious matter because if our MP will not talk then we wonder how the concerns of the people of Odotobri are going to be brought to the attention of the very people who are to solve the problem facing this Nation. Our Member of Parliament is a member of the District Assembly (according to Section 5 of Local Governance Act, Act 936 of 2016) We tiro convinced that the framers of the Local Governance Act had very good redsons for making the MP a member of the Assembly. Irrespective of the fact that lit’ does not have a vote he is expected by law to be present and actively participate in most Assembly meetings and to help resolve issues affecting the District.

The problems cor fronting our District which have come up in the course of District Assembly meetings are uncountable. But if I may ask how many times the Hon. MP has raised issues that are of concern before Parliament? Has he ever lobbied in his capacity as MP regarding the problems that the Assembly has had to contend with?

Before answers to the questions posed are given, I want you to find out for yourself if he has been attending Assembly meetings in the first place. We can assure you that absolutely no problems have been resolved on the floor of Parliament through the initiative of our MP.

We are therefore calling on the leadership of the NPP to advise the Hon. Member of Parliament NOT to pick a form for the up-coming-primaries. We wish to sound a word of caution that if the MP insists to contest then it will not be news to witness massive and series of demonstrations to show the displeasure of the entire electorate in the constituency. We hope this concern will be addressed on time by the leadership of the NPP.

Thank you.

Gordon Denkyira (Chairman) 0244136827

Kwasi Mensah 0246473137

Frank Yeboah (Secretary) 0246192956

Isaac Kumi (A.K.A. Okyem) 0244927009