Osei-Ameyaw Gears Up
THE DEPUTY MINISTER for Tourism, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asuogyaman, has started girding his loins to retain the seat for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the next parliamentary elections.
He kicked start his campaign last Sunday with a mammoth rally in his hometown, Gyakiti, a small community in the Asuogyaman constituency.
The rally counteracted the age-old adage that 'a prophet is without honour in his home,' as the people of Gyakiti and Adjena, a nearby town, trooped to the open square to listen to and celebrate the works of their son and representative in Parliament, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw.
Osei-Ameyaw had earlier visited some churches in the town and right after church service, the congregation did not go home to change from their church attire but headed straight for the rally ground.
The District Chief Executive of Asuogyaman, Emmanuel Ntow Bediako, the chief and elders of the town and the party's constituency executives were some of the dignitaries in attendance.
The MP, in his address, called for unity among his people, and encouraged them to adopt a positive attitude towards developmental projects.
“Let us all unite for the good of our community and country and stop stabbing each other in the back because we are the same people and have no other place to call home.
“The development of our community is our responsibility and it would be better for us to have a positive attitude towards that duty rather than complaining and accusing people on charges we ourselves do not understand
“I have heard people say I am not ready to construct the Gyakiti road and that I am not concerned about it. As a son of this land and your representative in Parliament, it would be unfair to accuse me of such things. The truth is that we are dealing with an 18-kilometre road which had not been constructed even before I was born.
“Since I got to Parliament, I have lobbied for the construction of this road and even pumped several millions of my own money into it. When I realised the contractor was delaying, I called for his replacement and now another contractor is working on it. Why then am I being chastised?
“I want to develop my constituency so we can all be happy and have a good name. A good name is better than riches and I did not leave my job as a highly paid lawyer outside this country to come to do politics in Ghana for the sake of money. I want a good name and I want to be remembered as one MP who served his constituency well,” Osei-Ameyaw added.
The MP urged his constituents to ensure that they patronize the National Health Insurance Scheme and the voter registration exercise that would be conducted by the Electoral Commission.
Getting to the end of the rally, four persons, claiming to be members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were introduced as having defected to the NPP.
Osei-Ameyaw welcomed them to the party and introduced them to the crowd.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE later, Osei-Ameyaw said bush fire was a major problem confronting his people and this was mainly due to the activities of cattle herders.
By Halifax Ansah-Addo