MP, DCE Fight Over Streetlights

THE MEMBER of Parliament for Offinso North, Augustine Collins Ntim, and the District Chief Executive of the area, Samuel Appiah-Kubi, on Thursday September 22, 2011 allegedly engaged in a verbal bout over the repair of street lights ordered by the MP.

The two political leaders in the area were said to have exchanged words over who had the legitimate right to repair streetlights for three communities in the area.

It was not clear what could have triggered the sudden misunderstanding between the two but a couple of residents DAILY GUIDE spoke to did not rule out their political differences.

A source at the Offinso North Divisional Police Command confirmed the incident but declined to further comment, explaining that the case was under investigation.

Reached for his comment, the MP said the assembly members and unit committee members of Nkenkaasu and Akomadan, all in the district, approached him about a month ago to repair the streetlights in the communities since various attempts to get the DCE to address the problem yielded no positive result.

Mr. Ntim said the people complained that incidents of armed robbery had increased because the streetlights were not functioning.

According to the MP, recently, two persons were knocked down by vehicles whose drivers absconded and had still not been arrested.

The MP stated that he and some youth of Nkenkaasu were on the streets last Thursday fixing the streetlights that cost him GH¢10,000, when the DCE came around with two police officers and ordered the electrician to stop work or face arrest.

Angered by the actions of the DCE, the MP insisted that the electrician should go ahead with his work and that the DCE could cause his (MP’s) arrest instead.

The DCE threatened to order the District Commander of Police to effect the MP’s arrest if he dared flouted his order, claiming the project had already been given out on contract but the MP called his bluff.

This, DAILY GUIDE gathered, resulted in some verbal exchanges between the two high-profiled personalities.

After a while, the DCE left the scene with the police officer without getting the MP apprehended as threatened.

The paper learnt that not long after, the District Police Commander reportedly called the MP over the arrest threat from the DCE, but the MP dismissed it, arguing that there was no law prohibiting him from carrying out the project for his constituency.

Augustine Collins Ntim disclosed that a fight would have ensued if the residents of the community hadn’t rushed to the scene.

He resolved to complete the project in the communities, with or without the consent of the DCE, expressing disgust at the DCE’s behaviour after he (the MP) had informed the DCE of all his projects in 2011.

Meanwhile, numerous calls to Samuel Appiah-Kubi’s personal cell phone to give him the opportunity to respond to the issues raised by the MP were unsuccessful.