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13.10.2014 NDC

Bawumia Converts NDC Chairman

By Daily Guide
Bawumia Converts NDC Chairman
13.10.2014 LISTEN

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Two-Time running mate of the presidential candidate of the opposition new Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, continues to rope in bigwigs of opposing political parties into the NPP family in the Northern region.

His latest catch to boost the chances of the party in his home region is a former Constituency Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Bunkpurugu District, who until over the weekend remained the pivot for many NDC activists in the area.

The longest serving Constituency Chairman of the NDC, who held the office for almost two decades in the Bunkpurugu Constituency, Osman Konlan, over the weekend, at a brief ceremony at Bunkpurugu Zongo parted ways with the party to join the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He described the NDC as a deceitful party that has over the years reneged on its numerous promises to the chiefs and people of the area, indicating that he could no longer superintend the affairs of the party for it to continue to deceive the people.

According to him, the NDC, prior to the 2008 general elections, promised it was going to fix all roads in the area but years after assuming office, no single road in the area has seen a facelift. Mr Konlan expressed worry at the spate at which lives were being lost, especially during the rainy season, because of the deplorable nature of the only major road that links the constituency to the regional capital, describing it as unacceptable.

He stated that in 2012 a litany of promises were also made to the people of the area but to date, no concrete steps had been taken by the government of the day or its assignees to address the teething problems of the people in the area.

What was more worrying, he stated, was the failure of President John Dramani

Mahama to appoint at least an indigene as a deputy minister in his government despite the overwhelming support the NDC party has enjoyed in the area since 1992.

He wondered what wrong the people in the Bunkpurugu Constituency had done to the President such that the area was still lagging behind other districts in developmental projects. He indicated that he could not stand another year of embarrassment.

The NDC chairman said judging from what had transpired in the two previous elections, he was optimistic the NDC would have no concrete campaign message(s) for residents in the area, but would rather go round

making another batch of wild promises. The chairman noted that it was to save himself from this embarrassment and its consequences that he had, after careful consideration, decided to bow out with his followers, numbering 278, to join the NPP.

'I am an adult clocking my 61st year and cannot go round lying to my own people. Enough of the lies,' he said.

He stated that under the NPP, several developmental projects sprang up in the area which at the time was one of the infant districts in the country, wondering why the current government failed to continue the successes chalked by the NPP.

Mr Konlan publicly renounced the NDC, and hinted that more NDC supporters will follow suit to join the NPP which has proven, over the years, that it has the antidote to the problems of the country.

The vice presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2012 elections, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, who received Mr Konlan into the party, said he was overjoyed by the bold decision taken by the former NDC chairman to renounce his love for the NDC.

He indicated that his readiness to join the NPP in prosecuting the agenda of national development is commendable.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Solomon Boah, thanked the executives of the party and the new entrants and assured them the NPP will emerge more united and victorious after the October 18 polls to elect a flagbearer.

FROM Stephen Zoure, Tamale

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