�Oppong Fosu Must Go�

The youth of Wassa Amenfi East constituency in the Western Region are angry with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Akwasi Oppong Fosu, who has been accused of absenting himself on several occasions during parliamentary sittings. According to the youth, the lackadaisical attitude of the MP towards serving the people in the august House had been the cause of the numerous developmental challenges in the constituency. They have therefore called for the immediate resignation of the MP; and entreated the traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the constituency to add their voices to the call. They have also warned that they would stage a massive demonstration at Wassa Akropong, the constituency capital, if the MP refused to resign in the next few weeks. The youngsters, calling themselves �Wassa Youth for Progressive Change,� claimed that they had chanced upon a report by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom on the wanton absenteeism in Ghana�s parliament published on various media portals across the country. They claimed that Mr Oppong Fosu was cited in the report as one of the worst offenders � being among the first five absentee MPs from 2013 to 2014. �The alleged attitude of our MP is shameful, irresponsible, unpatriotic and alien to the attributes of a true Wassa man,� they indicated. The spokesperson for the group, Adams Antwi Bosiako, noted that the purported attitude of the MP in the legislative assembly had brought the seat of Amenfi East and the name of Amenfiman into disrepute. �Hon Oppong Fosu was using his duties in parliament and the Local Government Ministerial position as an excuse for not regularly visiting his constituency,� Bosiako asserted. He indicated, �Oppong Fosu�s demotion from a Cabinet minister to a no-portfolio minister of state at the presidency deflated the ministerial excuses he was giving for not visiting. �The report on his poor attendance in parliament also indicated that Oppong Fosu was lying to the good people of Wassa Amenfi East �.� Mr Bosiako indicated that the youth in the area were reliably informed that even the few days that the MP was in parliament, he was mute adding, �We learnt he is the close-mouthed type and contributes nothing in the House. �We challenge him to produce excerpts of his own debate or contributions in parliament from the Hansard (Official written record of Parliament), to disprove the report about him.� Bosiako stated, �The youth are not talking about the answers to questions that Oppong Fosu read in the House when he was Minister for Local Government and Rural Development. Those answers were prepared by the directors in the ministry for him to read and even that he found it difficult to do.� He alleged that the Local Government and Rural Development ministerial position was taken away from the MP because of his incompetence and the embarrassment he was causing the NDC government whenever it was his turn to answer questions in parliament.