Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful
Brisk campaigning and lobbying by the various candidates who have put themselves up for the long awaited parliamentary primaries for the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ablekuma West constituency is underway ahead of a set date for the conduct of the elections.
The primaries had delayed due to a misunderstanding over the voters roll to be used for the polls.
The matter subsequently went to court and judgement was given but a few bottlenecks are still lingering.
After interacting with some party faithful(s), one candidate whose name appears to be resonating on the grounds as the possible candidate to unseat the incumbent and represent the NPP come November 7, 2016 is the party’s former Constituency Chairman, Mr. Theophilus N. A. Tettey.
When this reporter caught up with Chairman Theo, as he is affectionately called, at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra, and asked whether he was poised to take up the mantle from the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, considering her frontline role in NPP politics, he answered in the affirmative.
“Yes I’m ready to unseat Ursula because the people who made her who she is now and have neglected them for all this while, are the very same people who asked me to step down from the chairmanship position to contest the parliamentary candidateship which they have promised to vote massively for me,” he opined.
Chairman Theo, who is seen by many as a “home-boy,” explained that what had pushed him ahead of the other two aspirants including the incumbent was that he had lived all his life in the constituency unlike the others and for that matter the people there knew him better than his fellow contestants.
“They know what I am made up of, my capabilities and competencies in terms of character and personality wise, and also my involvement in the party as I rose through the ranks of the party at the constituency level: first as polling station chairman, ward coordinator, constituency executive member and later the constituency chairman.
…Based on these the constituents feel I can do better than what the incumbent has done,” he confidently stated.
Chairman Theo pointed out that the demeanour and posture of Hon. Owusu-Ekuful at all levels of discourse has been something that has not helped the development of the party in the constituency.
He explained that though he (Chairman Theo) personally brought Hon. Owusu-Ekuful to the constituency, supported her bid to become the parliamentary candidate and subsequently campaigned vigorously for her to win the Ablekuma West seat; “sadly she has turned her guns against us (constituents) afterwards.”
Touching on the development of the constituency, the parliamentary aspirant said Ablekuma West lacks so many basic social amenities like: motorable roads, drainages, hospital and recreational centres, “yet our MP has had millions of opportunities and platforms to sell the constituency and lobby people both home and abroad to come to the aid of the constituency but has failed to do so.”
“Instead of mending bridges, to bring goodies to the good people of Ablekuma West constituency, she rather goes destroying what is left, how can we send such a person to represent us again?” he inquired.
When Chairman Theo was asked what set of different approaches he was bringing on board to fast track development in the area, he replied with an infectious smile saying “I will bring on board humility, respect for all.”
He emphasised that people were willing to support the development of the constituency in every small way they can, insisting that “all they need is the right leadership. A leader who will mobilise and rally all of us together in a quest to undertake even communal labour and initiate some sort of ‘self-help’ projects in the community but we lack that kind of leadership.”
“This is the kind of leadership I stand to offer the good people of Ablekuma West. I stand to offer my people a leadership with a true sense of purpose and clear-cut direction through humility and lobbying, and I am of the high hope that this constituency will soon come over its developmental challenges. This is the very reason I accepted the call by my people to contest,” he said.
