A group calling themselves Concerned Youth of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) constituency in the Central region has given up hope of the party making any in-roads in the upcoming November 7 general elections in the area.
According to the group, made up of youth from Moree, Abakrampa and Abura Dunkwa the constituency capital, even though there was enough time for the party to campaign in the build-up to the general elections, everything indicated that no matter what the party does, it cannot retain the AAK seat.
Speaking to Today on condition of anonymity, one of the leading members stressed that NDC has lost “touch and favour” with the constituents due to the unpopularity of the parliamentary candidate for the area, Dr. Stephen Kweku Hayford.
He pointed out that they have tried their best in marketing the candidate for the party since he won the primaries in November last year but the constituents seem not to budge since they claim not to know the candidate.
“We have tried our best to sell our candidate but he seems not to be known by our constituents, especially those in the hinterlands, and this we believe will favour our biggest opposition rival, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who will snatch the seat from us on a silver platter,” he stated.
He observed that there was intensive internal bickering in the party because many of the members are peeved at the party’s decision to make Mr. Frank Fiifi Pratt the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, although he was also not well known to the party in the constituency.
“Where from this Pratt guy, there are a lot of people in this constituency who have worked hard over the years for the party to continuously win in this area. Some of these people were better candidates than our DCE but due to the selfish interest of some of our regional executives, this guy has been imposed on us and this has made a lot of our members very aggrieved,” the group noted.
The group also alleged that some regional executives took huge sums of money to ensure that Mr. Pratt was made the DCE to the detriment of the party in the area.
That development, they stated, will cost the party “very dearly” in the upcoming polls since most party members were not ready to work for the party for other people to enjoy without lifting a hand.
He explained that since 1992, the NDC has been winning the parliamentary seat in the area until in 2004 to 2008 when it lost to the NPP after which the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr. Anthony Christian Dadzie, recaptured it for the NDC in the 2008 General Elections up until now.
“This shows clearly that AAK is a seat for the NDC but we are afraid this time around we are going to give it away because our candidate is unpopular and the constituents are not prepared to vote for him,” he said.
The group added that due to the unfolding development, they have advised themselves and decided to vote “skirt and blouse.”
“We will vote massively for President John Dramani Mahama in the presidential race but we cannot promise same for our parliamentary candidate since he has not even come to thank us for voting for him to represent the party in the area,” the group indicated.
Meanwhile, the group has also called on the president to, as a matter of urgency, see to the rehabilitation of the road leading to the Asuansi Senior Technical High School to prevent parents from abandoning their wards in school after being admitted to the school due to the terrible nature of the road.
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