A private legal Practitioner Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo has called on Ghanaians to vote out Members of Parliament who have been found to be inactive in their various constituencies.
Speaking as a panelist on Citi TV’s “The Big Issue”, Mr Samoa Addo stated that the people must begin to get angry at government for their failures. He insists that if Ghanaians become activists in their areas and vote the lazy MPs out, there will be a change.
“Kwabenya, Tema Motoways, all those particular areas where the roads are bad I think the people must speak, they must speak through the ballot box. They must be angry, get angry enough, be activist in your area and vote those MPs out. If those MPs are aware that they have the potential of losing their seats because they are not getting lobbying skills up and working.” He said.
His comments follows the recent Madina-Adentan protest over incomplete footbridges, which claimed the life of a student as she was crossing the road while returning from school.
Financial analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford also waded into the matter, advising the politicians to be very careful not to cause a citizenry revolt. “It is time, if the politicians are not careful there will be a citizenry revolt.”
According to him, claims by government that there are not enough funds for road completion are false and that Ghanaians are tired of hearing their lies. He hinted that lack of funding for major infrastructural projects in the country caused the defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2016.
“I have come to the conclusion that it is so easy for our politicians to say we don’t have enough funds to complete the road then they leave it there and every year, they budget for it but there are not enough funds. And I want to say this once and for all, that we are tired of hearing all of this things and saying at the same time. When you continue to say funding issues, it then becomes easy for us the citizens every time something goes wrong and something can’t get fixed, oh it funding issues; it is not a funding issue. It is a priority issue, if the politicians believe sincerely that they want to do things for the purpose of the citizenry of this country comfortable they will find the money and they will do it; so they must be voted out. And that is the main reason the NDC was voted out because there was so much affection post trying to find solutions to what we perceived to be the problems,” He noted.
Background
Government has revealed six contracts have been awarded to different companies to fast-track the construction of some six uncompleted footbridges on the N4 highway, streetlights have also been fixed and orders have been made for road markings and road signs to be fixed.
The action comes on the back of violent protests by residents of the Madina-Adentan area after an 18-year-old student was knocked and killed by a taxi driver on the highway on Thursday.
The first-year West African Secondary School (WASS) student was on her way to school when the unfortunate incident occurred sparking the riots that left motorists in traffic for hours.
Police put the death toll on the highway, this year alone, at 24 with 164 injuries. Many months of protests by the residents for streetlights, road signs and the footbridges to be completed in order to save lives were ignored by government but the death of the female student was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
The residents in anger blocked the highway and burnt tyres to register their displeasure at the unnecessary deaths on the road.
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