Reject Letsa – Anlo assembly member petitions Appointments Committee

Assembly member for the Anlo Afiadenyigba Dziehe-Ablame electoral area, Gilbert Korbla Keklie has petitioned the Appointments Committee of Parliament against the reappointment of the Volta Regional minister-designate, Archibald Letsa.

The petition against Mr Letsa was grounded on failure to fulfil his obligations to the indigenes of the region.

The petition, issued on 4 February 2021, stated among many other reasons: “According to the petition, That in February 2017 when the Respondent appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament of Ghana, he promised to work hard to end the insecurity issues especially the disturbances of the Western Togoland Study Groups in the Volta Region but the situation had worsened under the leadership of the Respondent most importantly prior to the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana."

“That instead of the Respondent, who was the immediate past Chairman of the Volta Regional Security Council to recommend for military deployment to deal with the groups causing disturbances in the Volta Region prior to the 2020 elections, he rather recommended military deployment to the Volta Region during the 2020 voter ID registration where a lot of citizens were brutalised and a lot were also prevented from registering enough they are Ghanaians and have the constitutional rights to register as voters”.

“That the Respondent did not play his role in ensuring that the Volta Region also benefits from the government's flagship policies like One District One Factory (1D1F) and One Million Dollar per constituency especially in the Southern part of the Volta Region,” the petition added.

The petition also noted that “the year 2020, which was declared by the Respondent's government as the year of roads and under the leadership of the Respondent, the greater parts of the Volta Region especially the southern parts did not benefit from the year of roads. Denu to Havedzi roads, the Anlo Afiadenyigba -Havedzi to Weta roads, the Shime Roads, Aborlove-Anyako Kpota roads did not see any improvement”.

Read full petition below:

Memorandum

From: Gilbert Korbla Keklie, Assembly Member for Anlo Afiadenyigba Dziehe-Ablame Electoral Area

To: The Chairman

Appointments Committee of Parliament

Parliament House

Accra

Through: The Speaker of Parliament

Date issued: Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Subject Matter: PETITION AGAINST THE APPROVAL OF DR. ARCHIBALD YAO LETSA, VOLTA REGIONAL MINISTER NOMINEE.

1. The petitioner is an elected assembly member in the Keta Municipal Assembly of the Volta Region, who doubles as an entrepreneur.

2. The Respondent, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa is the immediate past Volta Regional Minister and also the Volta Regional Minister Nominee whose name is before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for approval or rejection.

3. That in February 2017 when the Respondent appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament of Ghana, he promised to work hard to end the insecurity issues especially the disturbances of the Western Togoland Study Groups in the Volta Region but the situation had worsened under the leadership of the Respondent most importantly prior to the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.

4. That instead of the Respondent, who was the immediate past Chairman of the Volta Regional Security Council to recommend for military deployment to deal with the groups causing disturbances in the Volta Region prior to the 2020 elections, he rather recommended military deployment to the Volta Region during the 2020 voter ID registration where a lot of citizens were brutalised and a lot were also prevented from registering enough they are Ghanaians and have the constitutional rights to register as voters.

5. That the Respondent did not play his role in ensuring that the Volta Region also benefits from the government's flagship policies like One District One Factory (1D1F) and One Million Dollar per constituency especially in the Southern part of the Volta Region.

6. That the year 2020, which was declared by the Respondent's government as the year of roads and under the leadership of the Respondent, the greater parts of the Volta Region especially the southern parts did not benefit from the year of roads. Denu to Havedzi roads, the Anlo Afiadenyigba -Havedzi to Weta roads, the Shime Roads, Aborlove-Anyako Kpota roads dit not see any improvement.

7. That under leadership of the Respondent, Anyako water problem still remains unsolved. In fact, the people of Anyako are still crying for water.

8. That under the leadership of the Respondent, a Director of Port was appointed to manage the affairs of non-existing Port in Keta even though the area was declared as a Port by the President of the Republic. Accordingly, the Respondent failed to lobby for the people of Keta to get the Port as promised by his government. In fact, the Feasibility Study Report is not yet ready for the project.

9. That the Respondent neglected Section 188 of the Local Governance Act, Act 936(2016) that led to abysmal performances of almost all the Municipal and District Chief Executives and civil servants in the Volta Region from 2017 to 2020. This includes but not limited to the following:

A. That the Respondent who supervised the works of the district chief executives failed to take the necessary actions when the National Lottery Authority donated GHC200, 000 towards construction of the Anloga Town Hall when the said money disappeared from the accounts of the Keta Municipal Assembly.

B. That the Respondent did not take any action when the hoarding of the outboard motors hit the coastal communities especially Keta Municipal Assembly, Ketu South Municipal Assembly and Anloga District Assembly. The poor fishermen were exploited under the watch of the Respondent.

C. That under the leadership of the Respondent, most of the district chief executives especially that of Keta did not comply with the public procurement laws before awarding contracts.

10. Based on the above grounds, I humbly submit and accordingly urge the Appointments Committee of Parliament to reject the President's Nominee, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa for someone else to be appointed for the development of the Volta Region.

....SIGNED.....

Gilbert Korbla KeklieMemorandum

From: Gilbert Korbla Keklie, Assembly Member for Anlo Afiadenyigba Dziehe-Ablame Electoral Area