NDC Iron Lady vows to unseat Joe Ghartey

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Essikado-Ketan Constituency in the Western Region, Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, has thrown a challenge to the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Joe Ghartey, to show a single development project he has undertaken in the constituency for the last sixteen years that he has represented the people.

The NDC candidate, who is a Surgeon by profession, said she was throwing the challenge to the incumbent New Patriotic Party Legislator, who is also the Minister for Railway Development, because she believes the latter has not helped the constituency.

According to the candidate, during all her rounds, no single project could be mentioned in the name of the sitting MP.

Interacting with news personnel in Takoradi recently, Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah said the constituency was in deficit when it comes to development projects, because the sitting MP had not championed its cause. “I have gone around all the villages, and I can tell you there is nothing in the constituency that the MP can claim credit for,” she said.

The NDC parliamentary candidate also threw a challenge to the journalists to name a single project the MP cum Minister has initiated for the constituency for the last sixteen years that he has represented the constituency as a Legislator.

“My thinking is that we have had one person who has been in office for [the] last sixteen years, and cannot even account for what he has done. So if you come and stand in front of me to tell me I should give you four years, then what could you not do in the last 16 years that you want to do in the shortest four years.”

To her, Essikado-Ketan should have a change in new person no matter the political party the person who can affect their lives comes from. To her, she represents the change and development Essikado-Ketan has the years been crying for. Answering questions from journalists, the NDC parliamentary candidate debunked the notion that the five constituencies in the metropolis, including Essikado-Ketan, are traditional strongholds of the NPP. “If you say the five constituencies in the metropolis are traditional strongholds of the NPP, it means we have sold our birth right to one.

She said the perception needed to change, and that she represents the change the people of Essikado-Ketan have been yearning for over the years.

Essikado-Ketan, for the last sixteen years, has been voting heavily for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in parliamentary elections, apparently because of the candidate the party has been putting up.

In the last parliamentary election, the NDC party trailed by a margin of about 9,000 votes, but with Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, a Surgeon and Philanthropist, representing the NDC as the parliamentary candidate, said she would defeat Mr. Joe Ghartey.

Dr. Grace Ayensu Danquah said she decided to contest the seat on the ticket of the NDC because she could make an impact in the constituency. “I have realised that I will make more of an impact in Ghana politics, because we need a paradigm change, and we need like-minded people who are bringing changes to Ghana politics.