I visited Bole, my constituency, on the 3rd of June in connection with a visit by a Japanese team to inspect a solar lighting project financed by the Japanese Government in my constituency. The team arrived on the morning of 4th June and we spent the whole of the day visiting communities that benefitted from the project. I was due to leave Bole on wednesday 5th June but decided to wait to celebrate the Damba festival which was scheduled for the following day.
The festival took place in the afternoon and in the evening we decided to have a fireworks display as part of the festival celebration. The fireworks began at 9.15 pm and lasted for barely 20 mins. It involved the firing of these small rockets that fly into the sky after a fuse has been lit. It then bursts into beautiful colours and stars in the sky. The fireworks were viewed by a large number of mostly youth and children, who enjoyed every minute of it and were calling for more. I had no report of any panic or any adverse reaction on the part of any resident of the town. In any case this is not the first time we had held a firework display in Bole. This was the 3rd time we were having such a fireworks display. I must admit that during the fireworks some of the youth who got carried away started shouting the NDC slogan "eye zu" and "esroho." I am certain that this is what must have irked the NPP constituency executive to come out with such a jaundiced and pathologic fabrication about the use of explosives to celebrate june 4.
I am a Member of Parliament and I'm familiar with the category of fireworks that are banned. we did not use any of the banned firecrakers popularly called "knockout." In any case I hope the NPP Constituency Chairman (Mahama 'Driver') and his executive will visit Accra next 7th January to view the fireworks display that will be put on by government to mark the 2nd anniversary of his party's assumption of the reins of government.
The deliberate use of the word explosives convey the impression of the use of grenades or dynamite. Where in the world are such incindiary devices used for any celebration? The NPP Executive in their petition call for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the use of the fireworks. I am sure the government has better use of its time than to probe a non-event. The facts are clear. I am responsible for the fireworks display. The fireworks involved the use of 10 pieces of small rocket type fireworks. It lasted for 20 mins and began at 9.15 pm on the 6th of june. The fireworks display was to mark the celebration of the Damba festival. What is the need for a probe to establish these facts.
The Bole District has enjoyed a long period of peace and calm throught out the period I have served as member of Parliament for the area. I have reached across the ethnic divide and created harmony in the District. Indeed it is this NPP Chairman and some of his close lieutenants who are the cause of tension in the District. Recently following the District Assembly bye election held in the Sonyo electoral area, he encouraged the Chief of Sonyo to levy a fine of a cow and 400,000 cedis on a nearby Dagare community for daring to field a candidate for the election on the grounds that they are settlers and are not natives of the area. This infringement on a people's right was reported to the District Chief Executive who failed to take any action on the matter. It is surprising that such a person will rather accuse me of attempting to fan tension in the District. I guess he will serve his party and government better if he will stop amassing all the District assembly contracts to himself and his family and allow some of these jobs to go even to the youth of his own party, who have contract certificates and also wish to have a shot at improving the quality of their lives by getting some of these assembly contracts.
I guess have more important issues to advert my mind to than to spend it on such bufoonery.
Thanks
John Mahama
Parliament House
Accra, Ghana
Tel. 233 24 323000
233 21 663325
e-mail: mahama2000@yahoo.com
jmahama@ucomgh.com
I visited Bole, my constituency, on the 3rd of June in connection with a visit by a Japanese team to inspect a solar lighting project financed by the Japanese Government in my constituency. The team arrived on the morning of 4th June and we spent the whole of the day visiting communities that benefitted from the project. I was due to leave Bole on wednesday 5th June but decided to wait to celebrate the Damba festival which was scheduled for the following day.
The festival took place in the afternoon and in the evening we decided to have a fireworks display as part of the festival celebration. The fireworks began at 9.15 pm and lasted for barely 20 mins. It involved the firing of these small rockets that fly into the sky after a fuse has been lit. It then bursts into beautiful colours and stars in the sky. The fireworks were viewed by a large number of mostly youth and children, who enjoyed every minute of it and were calling for more. I had no report of any panic or any adverse reaction on the part of any resident of the town. In any case this is not the first time we had held a firework display in Bole. This was the 3rd time we were having such a fireworks display. I must admit that during the fireworks some of the youth who got carried away started shouting the NDC slogan "eye zu" and "esroho." I am certain that this is what must have irked the NPP constituency executive to come out with such a jaundiced and pathologic fabrication about the use of explosives to celebrate june 4.
I am a Member of Parliament and I'm familiar with the category of fireworks that are banned. we did not use any of the banned firecrakers popularly called "knockout." In any case I hope the NPP Constituency Chairman (Mahama 'Driver') and his executive will visit Accra next 7th January to view the fireworks display that will be put on by government to mark the 2nd anniversary of his party's assumption of the reins of government.
The deliberate use of the word explosives convey the impression of the use of grenades or dynamite. Where in the world are such incindiary devices used for any celebration? The NPP Executive in their petition call for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the use of the fireworks. I am sure the government has better use of its time than to probe a non-event. The facts are clear. I am responsible for the fireworks display. The fireworks involved the use of 10 pieces of small rocket type fireworks. It lasted for 20 mins and began at 9.15 pm on the 6th of june. The fireworks display was to mark the celebration of the Damba festival. What is the need for a probe to establish these facts.
The Bole District has enjoyed a long period of peace and calm throught out the period I have served as member of Parliament for the area. I have reached across the ethnic divide and created harmony in the District. Indeed it is this NPP Chairman and some of his close lieutenants who are the cause of tension in the District. Recently following the District Assembly bye election held in the Sonyo electoral area, he encouraged the Chief of Sonyo to levy a fine of a cow and 400,000 cedis on a nearby Dagare community for daring to field a candidate for the election on the grounds that they are settlers and are not natives of the area. This infringement on a people's right was reported to the District Chief Executive who failed to take any action on the matter. It is surprising that such a person will rather accuse me of attempting to fan tension in the District. I guess he will serve his party and government better if he will stop amassing all the District assembly contracts to himself and his family and allow some of these jobs to go even to the youth of his own party, who have contract certificates and also wish to have a shot at improving the quality of their lives by getting some of these assembly contracts.
I guess have more important issues to advert my mind to than to spend it on such bufoonery.
Thanks
John Mahama
Parliament House
Accra, Ghana
Tel. 233 24 323000
233 21 663325
e-mail: mahama2000@yahoo.com
jmahama@ucomgh.com
