Manya Krobo Slipping from NDC

A group of National Democratic Congress (NDC) faithful in the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency has announced its change of mind and fresh resolution to give its unflinching support to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate, Difie Dedo Kusi.

The group, calling itself the Movement for Change, announced its decision to join what it referred to as Dedo's Unbeatable Progressive Development Programme, at a colourful launching ceremony here recently.

In a speech to explain the essence of the movement, Mr. Ben Kwawu, the secretary, said it was to provide a common platform for all the people in the constituency to interact with each other in a bid to liberate them from the chains of arrogance, profane rhetoric, selfishness and underdevelopment.

"The movement was born out of a spontaneous reaction of the broad masses of the constituency, after realizing that they had been exploited for far too long by those they voted into power to see to the welfare of the constituency," the address said.

According to Mr. Kwawu, the movement had made an impartial and careful study of the parliamentary candidates in the constituency, and had been convinced that Dedo's track record was enviable.

He said the people had suffered in the hands of arrogant, selfish, unproductive and anti-social politicians in the past, and called on other NDC members to rally behind the NPP candidate.

The movement also referred to an audit report, which touched on the sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Michael Teye Nyaunu, who used a greater part of his common fund, as at 2001, to purchase a tractor, acquire four plots of land for a farming venture, and form a cooperative society.

In an interview, the secretary told The Chronicle that a greater concentration of the membership of the movement were at Akuse Township, Amedeka, Kpong and Agormanya, where the NDC had a large following, and hinted that total membership so far ran into several hundreds.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. George Otchere, a former cadre and sitting assemblyman for the West Kpong Electoral Area, said it was a good thing for a person to change his mind and appealed to the people of Ahundjo to join their colleagues from Akuse, Lolonyo and Berlekope, who had already joined the wind of change blowing in the area.

Responding, the NPP candidate for the area, Dedo Kusi, thanked the movement for joining her campaign train, and promised to meet the aspirations of the youth in the constituency when mandated to represent them in parliament.

She said education, health and women issues were her primary concerns and called on the electorate to vote for her to enable her argue their cause.

The constituency is one of the three predominantly Krobo-speaking ones in the Eastern Region, which are seriously being targeted by the NPP.

In the last election, the gap between the two main political parties stood at 3,000. The resolution of the movement to defect to the NPP could be one of the body blows to have hit the NDC in the constituency in recent times, and could impact in the election.