Amin-Anta promises to win Tamale central seat

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Tamale Central Constituency, Mohammed Adam Amin-Anta has confidently stated that he would break the National Democratic Congress (NDC's) monopoly in the constituency this time round, to justify the high trust reposed in the ruling government by the Ghanaian electorate.

He disclosed that his Campaign team, led by Alhaji Abdella Hindu, was designing comprehensive strategies to silence the NDC and secure massive win in the coming December polls. Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle in Tamale, Mr. Amin-Anta said that the new “line of attack” or strategy was not meant to secure victory only for himself, but also for the NPP Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The NPP parliamentary candidate, also the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Tamale, attributed the successive defeats of the party in the three constituencies in Tamale and the Northern Region in general, to their inability to effectively articulate the splendid achievements of the ruling party to the electorate, most of whom have been misled by the NDC's propaganda machinery.

Mr. Amin-Anta, 34, is contesting the Tamale Central Seat for a second time after loosing to Professor Wayo Seini in 2004, this time with a more purposeful approach. Comparatively, Mr. Amin-Anta stands a better chance than his archrival and incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Lawyer Inusah Fuseini, if the electorate are to vote according to development interventions.

Inusah Fuseini of NDC (an injury time MP) succeeded Prof Wayo Seini who crossed carpet to the ruling NPP in 2006 and therefore, has very little to prove to the voters. However, his contender, Mohammed Amin-Anta has served as a Deputy Northern Regional Minister, before becoming the Metropolitan Chief Executive through whose time Tamale has obviously recorded the highest development and job opportunities.

The anticipations are that the NPP, judging from its “massive development interventions” in the Northern region, is perceptibly expecting a reciprocal gesture from the Northern electorate, but the opposition NDC also appears not leaving any stone unturned, as they seek to safeguard their existing seats and still win more.

Hon. Inusah Fuseini, within the last two years in parliament, has to a large extent touched the hearts of majority of his constituents as he has been able to assist in the renovation of schools, provision of relief items to disaster victims, construction of Mosques and also assisted some students to further their education through his share of the MPs Common Fund.

On the other hand, his opponent, Mohammed Amin-Anta, since assumption of office two years ago, has completed the Tamale roads project which saw the Metropolis increased its road network by 56km and the Tamale Streetlights Project also increased from 99 poles to 2,850 poles. He was also the Chairman for the Infrastructure Committee which supervised the new 20,000 capacity Tamale Sports Stadium project, from land acquisition stage to project completion stage.

Records available to The Chronicle from the Tamale Metro Assembly have it that the MCE has succeeded in providing 46 new public latrines, 15 renovated public latrines, and 1,500 household latrines; signed a contract with Zoomlion Ghana to collect refuse in communities. As a result Tamale has won the Cleanest City Award organized by the Ministry of Local Government in 2006 and also won the Clean City Award organized by the Ghana Tourist Board in 2008.

At the latter part of 2007, Mr. Amin-Anta and his members of the Tamale Assembly developed a Beautification Plan and implemented it before and after the Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations, and as a result, Tamale was voted as the best venue by the LOC.

Early this year, 2008, the MCE in improving the economic standard of the City, launched a “Tamale Business Forum” in Accra, to attract investors to the area. Within the last eight months after launch, Tamale has so far attracted seven (7) new Banks, three of which are already operating (Amalgamated Bank, HFC Bank, Intercontinental Bank) and the rest constructing their branches (Stanbic, Zenith, UBA, and Ecobank).

Also, as part of his achievement, about 15 new Hotels and Guest Houses as well as new factories have been opened within the two year period. A GH¢100,000 new Cattle Market is also being constructed and has extended electricity to 29 rural communities within the Metropolis. Mr. Amin-Anta also played significant roles in the implementation of the Tamale Water Expansion Project (98% complete), National Youth Employment Programme and National Health Insurance Programme.

However, the MCE challenged the Northern voters to make a quick transition in their style of voting (mainly on tribal and political lines), and rather vote for development and positive change. He also entreated the people to leave the NDC which they (NDC electorate) describe as better party to join the NPP which he said was the best and a winning party, to witness an accelerated development after December 2008.