Several requests by the queen mother and elders to continue the project have fallen on deaf ears
New Edubiase constituency which lies in the Adansi South district of Ashanti region has since the beginning of the 4th republic been a hot seat and a stronghold of the National Democratic Congress.
The NDC carried the constituency from 1992 until 2016 when it finally fell in the hands of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in both the parliamentary and presidential election.
Apart from the indigenous Adansi’s the New Edubiase Constituency has a very high multi-ethnic population which includes the Northerners, Krobos, Ewes, Fantis, Akwapims, and Akims. The Ewes whose loyalty to the NDC is undeniable is the most dominant ethnic group apart from the indigenous Adansi people.
These multi-ethnic settlers mostly engage in cocoa farming which is the principal economic activity in the District. That, in a nutshell, explains the subsequent NDC victories in the constituency.
In their zeal to retain the stronghold as one of their few constituencies the can win in Ashanti region the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had always been faithful in their campaign promises to the people; including fixing of the New Edubiase township roads, a SHS at Adansi Apagya, construction and upgrading of the central market at New Edubiase, gravelling of cocoa roads and many others.
New Edubiase is the home of New Edubiase United Football club a division one team in Ghana.
Before the 2016 elections, Former President John Mahama cut the sod for the construction of the 10,000-seater multi-purpose stadium.
The GH¢6 million project formed part of the NDC government’s efforts to improve sports facilities across the country. It was meant to have a host of facilities such as a football pitch and an astro turf for hockey.
The project awarded to Shakdeen construction took off in earnest before the 2016 elections.
NPP, on the other hand, promised to continue the project if the people of New Edubiase gave them their votes. Hon. George Oduro supported by the Ashanti regional chairman of the NPP Bernard Antwi Biasiako put their resources and marshalled all efforts to annex the constituency for the NPP. The people of New Edubiase through the influence of the queen mother Nana Akua Dwum II threw their support behind the NPP to ensure a massive win for the NPP. Right after the 2016 election all NDC ongoing projects including the stadium complex were stalled.
Several requests by the queen mother and elders of the divisional council to get the NPP administration to continue the project have fallen on deaf ears.
The pressure was mounted on the MP who also doubles as the deputy minister of Agriculture to get the attention of parliament on the abandoned sports complex. In response to a question posed by Hon. George Oduro in Parliament Mr. Assiamah the Sports minister claimed that the project was not captured in the Ministry's budget in 2015 and 2016 as such the source of funding of the project is unknown. An assertion denied by his predecessor Nii Lante Vanderpuye.
In spite of Mr Asiamah’s promise to Parliament that his office was in discussions with the Finance Ministry for support for the completion of the project it was thought that the NPP Government would make amends and include it in their 2019 budget statement to Parliament. Deception now stares at the people of New Edubiase in the face.
This has therefore incurred the displeasure of the citizens of New Edubiase and its environs who feel deceived by the NPP.
The NDC is in the process of fielding a candidate who has a deep passion for the fortunes of New Edubiase United Football Club. This prospective parliamentary candidate is so much endeared to the youth of the constituency that Hon. George Oduro has an uphill task to retain his seat.
The only way the New Edubiase constituency would not revert to the fold of the NDC is for the NPP to fulfill the promise of completing the stadium project ahead of the 2020 election.
A group known as the New Edubiase citizens union with over 3000 members are therefore embarking on a NO STADIUM NO VOTE campaign against the NPP. If this action gains steam in the constituency the NPP might as well forget about consolidating their hold in the constituency and look elsewhere. Deception to get votes can no longer be tolerated.
