Sunyani braces up for NDC congress

Some residents in Sunyani, on Tuesday, deplored the attitude of politicians, who indulge in “pitiful rush games” and wait until few days to elections or congresses before addressing critical developmental issues.

In a random sampling, conducted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the respondents said the attitude of politicians sometimes smacked of cruelty and wickedness, as they care little about the welfare of the people and would seriously engage in rush activities when they want power.

Responding to the sudden face-lift of certain facilities in the municipality ahead of next Saturday’s delegates congress of the National Democratic Congress in Sunyani, Sam Gilbert, a journalist, said the behaviour of politicians “depicts the disrespect they have for the people”.

“How long has the Sunyani Coronation Park been without lights, why are the traffic lights, which have not been functioning for months now, being rehabilitated? Politicians will do special things when they need something from you.

“The traffic lights at Penkwase and the main lorry park are now on because the President is coming to town for the Congress”, he queried.

Empress Richildgirl, a security officer, said the pavements along some principal streets in the municipality were being re-painted “and other things being put order, mainly to motivate the delegates to vote ‘for them, and especially because President Mills is the man in power’.

“Politicians do not care about us. They don’t think of us. The better Ghana Agenda only goes for a section of the populace and not all of us. Even with the distribution of the free school uniforms not all the public schools have benefited”, she stated.

Kwesi, unemployed, however said the Better Ghana Agenda was improving conditions in the country but blamed the authorities for not ensuring that certain facilities, concerning development, were put right immediately it is detected.

Nana Fosu, Area One Mmbrantehene remarked that, ‘I think all these are being done because of the upcoming congress. Most of the traffic lights were in bad shape. This tells us that politicians are heartless. It also implies that they only think about themselves. But for the upcoming congress things would be left in their shabby state forever”.

Brother Kwabena, a carpenter, also expressed similar sentiments of politicians saying this attitude of theirs “is not good”.

“We don’t have to hear that the President is coming here before we start putting things right. It’s childish thinking. For this reason I have vowed never to go and queue to vote in any future elections because they only care for themselves. For now, I’m only concentrating on my job as a carpenter. All I need is my voter’s identity card and national health insurance card. They are important for me to process vital documents”, he stated.

Mr Alfred Annye, Brong–Ahafo Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, observed that it is a normal thing with politicians to rush and provide certain facilities to win the confidence of the people at critical events like elections.

He, however, said as to whether the congress had necessitated the rehabilitation and upgrading of facilities in the regional capital, he could not tell.

Mr Annye said with the erection of lights at the Sunyani Coronation Park for instance, the question of whether it had been necessitated by the upcoming congress could only be answered by time, adding, “all that is important is, if development challenges are being addressed”.

Mr Kwasi Oppong–Ababio, Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, explained that, the lights at the Coronation Park had been installed by the Volta River Authority purposely for the congress because it would travel into the night and for security reasons.

“When President Obama of the United States of America was coming to Ghana wasn’t Accra, the capital, given a face-lift”, he asked and wondered why people were complaining about what was happening in Sunyani for the congress.

He questioned why people should make politics out of this development, stressing the face-lift was in the interest of Sunyani, “not the issue of why we have had to wait until the impending congress”.

With four days to the congress, Sunyani is bracing up for the event.

Posters of the two candidates, President Atta Mills and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, can be seen in almost every part of the city and outlying towns and villages, on walls along principal streets, whilst NDC party flags flutter on streetlights.

A giant seven-footer billboard of Nana Konadu Agyemang beaming with a broad smile mounted in front of the Golden Jubilee Park greets visitors to Sunyani.

Source: GNA