<<Print>>

A parliamentary aspirant of the National Democratic Congress Alhaji Ibrahim Dori has reiterated his strong conviction to win the parliamentary ticket of the party in the upcoming primaries for the Bawku central constituency. The 30 year old building and roads engineer has come up strongly against the incumbent Member of Parliament Mahama Ayariga and former municipal chief executive Abdulai Musah in a bid to win the parliamentary slot of the party in the November 7 primaries. The high spirited parliamentary aspirant in an interview with Azongo Albert said he had to defy incessant pleas and calls on him from big wits of the party including individuals from the seat of government to step aside and allow Hon. Mahama Ayariga to go unchallenged. He added that his decision to contest in the face of the overwhelming efforts to prevent him from entering the race is because the seat is at the verge of getting lost in the hands of the current Member of Parliament. �A number of friends of the honorable called and there were some interventions for me to allow him. Even from the executive, some of them appealed to me to step aside and allow but I told them this is not the time for appeals but this is the time for a whole new blood to come with fresh and pragmatic ideas and not contesting Ayariga is not an option. So I persistently and continuously maintained the fact that I needed to contest� he said. Alhaji Ibrahim Dori expressed confidence that the good will of his late father to the party will to some extent play to his benefit in the upcoming primaries. He will campaign on the wings of the contributions of his late father who was once a constituency chairman and financier of the party who contributed to the growth of the party when he was alive including a building to house the party�s office. He explained that �The people of Bawku know me very well and they know how much of a contribution my father has done for the people of Bawku and we are hoping and waiting that the same blood that has gone through him and the help that he has actually given to the people will be seen in me� The party over the years did not have a constituency office because the office space that housed the party was abandoned and left unattended to and hence could not function as a party office. Alhaji Dori who recently financed the renovation of the party office added that the worrying situation of keeping the party office defunct is because some leading members of the party are enjoying some unbridled benefits from the party structure not working in the constituency. �The fact is that the various structures of the party have not been working largely because some people are enjoying from those structures not working. If we had an incumbent MP who knows very much the party on which ticket he is now the incumbent MP, if we had executives who know what they are doing is to help the party and if anyone at all should raise an alarm on why we don�t have a party office then it should be those executives but there is some kind of collusion to make sure those structures don�t work. Bawku is the biggest constituency in the upper east region and yet we cannot boast of a party office then it raises some curiosity� he noted