By Emmanuel Gbedemah
The Abuakwa North Constituency went agog recently when Ghana’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Victor Smith, stormed there for the second time to interact with the people and make clear his acceptance of their invitation to him to represent them in parliament come 2013.
The invitation to Victor Smith is coming not only from NDC supporters but the NPP as well with the latter asserting that they are fed up with the mediocre performance of NPP MPs and want a doer who will walk the walk and talk the talk.
Interestingly, about seventy percent of the huge crowd who met Ambassador Smith at the outskirt of Kukurantumi to welcome him to the constituency were NPP supporters led by some former constituency executives of the party.
Wielding placards and dancing to brass band music, the NPP supporters said they were no longer going to vote based on party lines but based on who they think can deliver the constituency from the under-development that has plagued it.
The NPP supporters, alongside their NDC brothers and sisters, led Ambassador Smith on a tour of the constituency once more to show him the dilapidated nature of their markets, collapsing bridges that pose danger to users and many other infrastructure which are in very poor state. Victor Smith expressed both shock and dismay at what he saw and pledged to do what he can to improve upon infrastructure even before being voted for to represent the constituency.
He told the people that soon after his earlier visit, he began to initiate moves to have the Tafo market rehabilitated and called on the people to be weary of anyone who will claim to be the initiator when work begins.
Ambassador Smith who spent four days in the constituency to familiarise with the people paid courtesy calls on various chiefs and religious leaders. Hundreds of people made up of NPP and NDC supporters followed him wherever he went and pledged their support for him.
The NPP supporters told the Ambassador that they will only vote for the NDC candidate in the 2012 elections if it is him because having followed his exploits at the national stage, they believe that he has what it takes to raise the standard of living of the people in the constituency starting with the infrastructure.
In answer to a question, Victor Smith said the Mills government is trying all its best to make sure that everyone gets a fair share of the national cake. He thus called on the people to exercise patience since the BETTER GHANA agenda is at their door-steps.
He added that for the sake of the development of his constituency he will step down as an Ambassador and come and help his own people.
“It is for this reason that I have decided to forfeit all the perks that is attached to my position as an ambassador and come down to help my own people,” he said
Quoting from the Holy Bible (Esther 4:14), Victor Smith said that the situation at hand could be likened to that of the story of Esther and Mordecai.
“I believe I have been put in such a position at such a time to ensure that my people are not destroyed by the evil plots of the enemy” he said
The enthusiasm of the people of the constituency, both young and old, was such that if translated into votes, the NDC will for the first time claim the seat.
