Amansie East hails Joe Wise...As he excels in Parliament

CONSTITUENTS OF Amansie East in Ashanti have hailed their Member of Parliament, Hon. Joe Osei-Wusu, who they say has endeared himself so much within his brief stay in Parliament that he has represented them.

They are amazed about his excellence in Parliamentary duties hoping he would continue to shine like a true Amansie 'Nsroma' (star). According to them, Joe Osei-Wusu, who polled 34,700 votes against 8,560 by the NPP candidate in the parliamentary elections really deserves their vote and support to ensure the proper development that has eluded the constituency for a long time.

The constituents said the constituency now has a proper representation in Parliament, and that for the first time in the history of the constituency, its MP is making a very positive impact at the National Assembly of legislators, even at this early stage. The constituents expressed the hope that he would bring about positive changes in the lives of the people.

One Osei Yaw, a farmer at Koneyaw, a village in the constituency, said if for nothing at all, Osei-Wusu had mentioned Koneyaw more than twice in Parliament and expressed the concerns and needs of the people, an indication that he really cares about the quality of live of the constituents.

Barima Osei Bonsu and Yaw Appiaqyei of Abodom, said for the two term tenure of eight years, he never heard of the former MP, Mr. Kofi Poku Adusei make any significant contribution towards the area's development.

Sarfo Mensah of Bekwai said even in opposition, Joe Wise, as member of the Parliamentary Appointments Committee has excelled to the admiration of the constituents.

Teacher Mensah of Anhwiankwanta prayed that the MP would continue to display excellence in his performance in all parliamentary deliberations and make him a role model for the youth of Amansie.

The constituents have also not lost sight of the tremendous contributions of other NPP members of Parliament. They commended the Members of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Manhyia, and Suame, in the persons of Hon. S. Atta Akyea, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu for the matured way they have handled the Ministerial nominees who appeared before the committee for vetting.

According to them, the MPs have by their performance exhibited commitment to the principles of accountability, probity and liberal democratic ideologies of the founding fathers of the Danquah-Busia tradition.

Meanwhile, the Amansie East MP has embarked on a move to redeem some of his campaign promises. Barely three months in Parliament, Hon. Osei-Wusu, alias Joe Wise, has begun to take statistics and assessment of quality of teachers in the constituency in a bid to improve upon their lot and thus raise the standard of education in the constituency.

Outlining his vision, Osei-Wusu during the electioneering campaign expressed concern about the fallen standards of education and promised to work to better the situation through planned schemes to upgrade teaching skills of teachers in the area.

Osei-Wusu said once the package, to be funded through his share of GETfund is in place, he would enter into performance agreements with teachers to sustain improved standards towards development.

He mentioned incentive packages including training programmes for teachers as a means of raising standards of education, provision of micro-finance services through his 'Osei-Wusu Foundation for Indigenous Business Development' for farmers, and as well assist constituents to access healthcare under the National Health Insurance Scheme in line with government policies.

The MP had also promised to establish processing plants across the constituency to check post harvest losses and ensure that farmers derive benefits from their toil, mentioning storage facilities and processing of plantain and cassava into powder for fufu.

Osei-Wusu, who is the founder of the Osei-Wusu Foundation for Indigenous Business Development, which basically identifies prospective groups, gives financial assistance and monitors their activities to facilitate their self-empowerment objective, has over 6,000 members in 35 towns and villages across the district.

He said he intends to expand the micro finance services by disbursing funds to beneficiary members and all potential members of the Foundation to expand their businesses in line with poverty alleviation drive and focus on cost recovery to sustain it.

The Foundation gives priority for assistance as small and medium scale businesses, talent hunting, agriculture, agro processing, education and sports development.

The MP also told The Chronicle exclusively that he intends organizing an orientation for assembly members and personnel of decentralized Agencies in the municipality so that beneficiaries move in tandem, in line with his vision and developmental agenda, and ensure a major facelift for the area.

He has promised to open more Information Centres in the constituency besides the ten already established before the 2008 elections to generate more discussions on government policies among constituents and the General Assembly.

The MP indicated that as a long-term plan, he intends to set up a Frequency Modulation (FM) station at Bekwai, the district capital, for which he is in negotiation for assistance to ensure flow of information.