THE Wassa Youth for Progressive Change (WYPC), a pressure group in the Amenfi East Constituency in the Western Region, is up in arms against the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Akwasi Oppong Fosu.
Their bone of contention is that the MP has failed to deliver on the many promises he made to the constituents in the run-up to the 2012 general elections.
In a statement issued by the group and jointly signed by Frederick Kumah, President, Odame Antwi Bosiako, Public Relations Officer (PRO) and Paul K. Gyan, General Secretary, the group said “after three years in office, the MP has totally disappointed us and we have completely lost faith in him.”
The group further said even though the area is noted for growing cocoa, farmers in the area are struggling to receive their very first share of the government’s free fertiliser, not to talk about credit facilities.
The statement also said all attempts to get the MP to facilitate their access to credit and other needs have fallen on deaf ears. “We are totally at a loss because before the 2012 elections, Mr Oppong Fosu promised, among other things, farming will be his priority and that he would do everything to ensure the wellbeing of the cocoa farmer, in particular.
“Now, what do we see? Not only has he turned his back on farmers but other critical areas of development.
“Currently, our feeder roads are in a terrible state, making it difficult for us to cart our goods to market centres, not to talk of the massive dropout in school by our children [in order to engage] in ‘galamsey’ due to economic hardship confronting them,” the statement added.
It also said the few who have completed secondary and tertiary education have now become a burden on their families due to lack of employment avenues.
The group alleged that what has further worsened the situation is a growing impasse between the MP and the DCE, Stephen Badu Acheampong, which is impacting negatively on development in the area.
They traced the current impasse to the party’s constituency primaries, during which the MP and the DCE sponsored different candidates, with the DCE’s candidate eventually winning the position, which didn’t sit well with the MP.
“Since then the two of them have not seen eye to eye, leaving the people to suffer, even though they pretend everything is fine. In fact, things have gotten so bad that if the two of them are invited to an important social gathering in the constituency, only one would turn up or none of them would show up."
The group said it was not surprising that on Friday, July 10, 2015, an NDC communicator sent to represent the MP at an educational and motivational talk function organised by the UCC/C-POLY chapters of WAESU (Wassa Amenfi East Students Union) was booed and heckled by the audience as he could not give any tangible reason for the absence of the MP.
“Again on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, the assembly organised a public forum at Wassa Akropong for people to ask questions on issues of development; Oppong Fosu never showed up and no reasons were given.
“Enough is enough. Oppong Fosu has proven that he does not have the people at heart. Amenfi East deserves better and we must put up a better candidate for 2016,” the group added.
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