Demo Hits Haruna Iddrisu

Residents of Kotingli, a farming community in the Tamale South constituency in the Northern Region, have said their Member of Parliament (MP), Haruna Iddrisu, has breached his agreement with them and therefore not worth their votes come December 7. The aggrieved residents, who vandalized a giant billboard of the Communications Minister erected at the centre of the community, accused him of taking undue advantage of their loyalty during elections, and not fulfilling a single promise made to them. They therefore said that he should stay off the community until he connected the community to electricity. However, Mr Iddrisu said the people should exercise patience as development would soon reach them. He said a number of initiatives had been taken including extension of electricity to the farming community.According to Alhassan Abdulai, spokesperson for the residents, the area had over the years demonstrated its loyalty to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) but it had nothing to show for it. He disclosed that prior to the 2008 elections, the minister promised he was going to connect them to the national grid but he was yet to fulfill that promise, less than three months to the next general elections. Mr. Abdulai noted that several calls on him to explain to them reasons for the delay had yielded no results, adding that they only woke up one day to see a giant billboard erected in the community in view of the impending elections. Since Mr Iddrisu was insensitive to their plight, the spokesperson noted, they were going to teach him the lesson of his life by refusing to vote for him, noting that they would resist any attempt to have his billboard erected in the community. �We are supporting the NDC party for our own development but if we are not getting any, then it is better we advise ourselves,� he remarked. Despite the poor showing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in elections in the community, the residents noted that they had benefitted enough from it than the NDC. Alhassan Braimah, the youth secretary of Kotingli, said they had fulfilled their part of the bargain and would only make peace with Haruna Iddrisu if he committed himself to his part. �Enough is enough,� he stated. Leaders of the community claimed they had become laughing stocks of other communities due to the failure of the minister to fulfill promises he made to them. They told Daily Guide that the patience of the youth had run thin and that any attempts to calm them down angered them, advising the minister to redeem his pledge if he wanted to be voted for by community members. However, speaking to Daily Guide, Haruna Iddrisu said the contract for the electricity connection had been awarded to Chinese contractors who recently visited the community to assess the situation. He said Kotingli was among 300 communities benefiting from the $120million electricity projects for the Northern Region. He mentioned that 21 other communities including Changnayili, Cheshe, Dalogyili, Kudula, Tua and Jerigu in the Tamale South constituency were benefiting. He said the agitations were unnecessary, pleading with the residents to exercise restraint. According to the minister, he could not turn his back on the people, explaining that recently, some women were given micro credit for their businesses.