SIAKON MEDIA

Bolgatanga, June 4, GNA - Mr. Adamu Dramani, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, has said there was the need for more dialogue, more confidence building and job creation to resolve the Bawku conflict.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview he said banning motorbike riding in Bawku and its environs was affecting the economic and social activities in the area.

Mr. Dramani said allowing only women to ride motorbikes in Bawku could be more dangerous since they could be used by either of the feuding factions to carry out some of their nefarious activities.

He said what was needed was more barriers to be mounted in the conflict areas and not the banning of motorbike riding.       

Mr Dramani said another major problem hindering the activities of the security personnel in curbing the conflict was the absence of streetlights.  

Whilst applauding the security personnel in Bawku and other stakeholders for maintaining peace in the area, he urged them to intensify their intelligence gathering.

He suggested they should step up their patrols especially at night and said there was also the need to provide adequate infrastructure for the police in Bawku.

Mr Dramani expressed regret that the Bawku conflict had affected development in the area as projects had come to a standstill and the Municipal Assembly spends all its money on peacekeeping in.

He said the abysmal performance of Junior High Schools and the Senior High Schools in Bawku was due to the conflict.

GNA

  Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Bolgatanga, July 5, GNA - Mr. Epsona Ayamga, the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, has refuted allegations levelled against him by regional cadres of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that he was arrogant and should be removed from office.

Among the allegations the cadres levelled against him were that he had no good working relations with some key members of the constituency executives and failed to convene a meeting with the contesting parties of the 2009 elections to heal wounds and build bridges to prepare the grounds for 2012 election.

The cadres said since assuming office Mr Ayamga had not paid courtesy calls on chiefs in the Municipality and that he was engaged in politics of exclusion.

Mr. David Apia, the Spokesperson for the cadres who read the statement, said having suffered eight years in opposition they would not allow any individual's actions to affect the party's fortunes in the 2012 election.

"We will again state further in unambiguous terms that the removal of Mr Ayamga from office will do the NDC, our great party, some good".

Reacting to the allegations Mr Ayamga described the cadres as selfish people who did not have the interest of the masses at heart and wanted to condone with some of the constituency executive to dictate to him to do wrong things.

He said some of the cadres wanted appointments to certain positions such as Non-formal Education and MASLOC that they were not qualified for.

Mr Ayamga said the spokesperson of the cadres wanted to be the Regional Coordinator for MASLOC "but he does not have the qualification for that."

He said such people failed to realise that vetting committees did thorough research and came out with people who were qualified for the job.

Mr. Ayamga alleged that some of the cadres together with the constituency executives at one time asked him to give them some money to run certain activities for the party that were not in tandem with the party's constitution.

He said there were instances when constituency executives and cadres came out with huge expenditures that he sometimes cut down and this outraged them.

Mr Ayamga denied the allegation that he had not met the chiefs since his assumption of office and said "I even have to organise and paid their monthly allowances which were in arrears for eight months."

He alleged that some of the cadres and the constituency executives complained that he had been awarding contracts to his favourites and NPP members and said these were all baseless and untrue.

Mr Ayamga said before his appointment he had run the party as a member of the constituency executive for eight years and contributed a lot of his personal resources and logistics to the party.

"In 2000 I gave my two cars for party activities."

He said he had funded a lot of party activities from his own resources for the past years and still does and had been pre-financing activities of the Municipal Assembly from his own resources.

Mr Ayamga said he used his health facilities to get people to join the NDC because he treated most of them freely including party members.

He said he would remain steadfast to serve the interest of the masses and would not kowtow to any group of people or individuals who want to detract him from running his administration.

GNA

Upper East Cadres want govt officials to adhere to June 4 values

Bolgatanga, June 7, GNA - The Upper East Regional Cadres of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said despite the excesses of the June 4 Uprising, it has certain important values which could foster national development.

The Acting Regional Chairman of the Cadres, Mr. Noble Alagskoma, who stated this during a vigil held by the cadres to commemorate June 4, mentioned  probity, accountability, the spirit of nationalism and communal labour as positive instruments that emerged from June 4.

He explained that after June 4, people in public offices could be held accountable and this had helped to reduce the level of corruption as compared to the previous regimes.

He noted that those who condemn June 4 should not forget the fact that countries, including the United States, which could boast of having good democracies went through a similar revolutions.    

Mr. Alagskoma entreated Ghanaians, especially public sector workers, to endeavour to adhere to the principle of probity and accountability which were very crucial elements for development.

He appealed to the citizenry not to hesitate to hold public servants accountable whenever they were going wrong and said as citizens they had the absolute right to demand for their rights.

He advised the youth to use the occasion of the June 4 to engage in ventures that would bring about development instead of engaging in violence, abuse of alcohol and smoking of India Hemps because that would destroy them.

Some of the cadres indicated that if the principles of June 4 were adhered to properly it could ensure social justice in the system.

GNA