…Gifts To Selected Delegates For Votes, Others Angry
By Our Reporter
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kade in the Eastern Region has been accused of hijacking Palm Seedlings meant for farmers within the galamsey prone communities, and given them to some NPP delegates as his own initiative in bid to canvass their votes.
It would be recalled that the Minerals Development Fund in collaboration with the Government of Ghana has been raising oil Palm Seedlings to curtail galamsey and to support farmers within the areas where galamsey destroys their lands. The seedlings are to be given to the farmers for free.
However, interesting revelations emanating from these areas indicate that the Kade MP has allegedly, cunningly registered some few people within the constituency to get some of the seedlings for them.
He has been accused of selecting just a little above 300 people who are delegates and given them 50 oil Palm Seedlings each so they would vote for him during the parliamentary primaries.
In a Statement issued by aggrieved farmers, they stated that the action by the MP caused a lot of agitations by some of the delegates who the MP left out when he was doing the selection.
All these agitations came up when the MDF and the Artesenal oil palm millers association came to register the entire general public for them to also get some of the seedlings.
According to them the MP is not doing anything in their interest as a people.
They also charged him to render an unqualified apologies to the people of Kwaebibirem.
Read full statement below
MDF in collaboration with the government of Ghana has been raising oil palm seedlings to curtail galamsey and to support farmers within the areas where galamsey destroys their lands and the seedlings is free. Artesenal palm oil millers association used this opportunity and negotiated to get some of the seedlings for members with the Kwaebibirem, Atiwa and Abirem Districts where about one hundred and twenty thousand seedlings has been allocated for the members and farmers for free.
The national coordinator of MDF came to Akyem Asuom to address the Omanhene and the other chiefs in the villages and towns within the Kwaebibirem Municipal and the general public about the program and he made an emphatic statement about the seedlings been free for all. After his address he together with his team did a lot of registration for the people in a form of a chit to receive the seedlings. The association therefore selected among themselves some people called coordinators within the towns and villages to actually coordinate the activities of the program and therefore the association on its own approved a GH₵ 30.00 payment by the members to help the coordinators do their work effectively. This decision was taken by the members of the association.
TRENDS THAT CAME UP AFTER THE REGISTRATION FOR THE SEEDLINGS.
We have not loosed sight over the fact that the MP for Kade had nicodemusly registered some few people within the constituency to get some of the seedlings for them. He had selected just a little above 300 people which are delegates and get them 50 oil palm seedlings each which is not even up to 1 acre and calculated the cost to them implying that should they go and buy 50 trees it will cost them GH₵ 600.00 but he is giving it to them for free so that they will intend vote for him during the parliamentary primaries. We are therefore saying that it is a vote buying agenda and must therefore be condemned in no uncertain terms. This action by the MP caused a lot of agitations by some of the delegates who the MP didn’t give them some of the seedlings and again the general public also became worried and spoke ill about the NPP as a disappointed political party.
All these agitations came down when the MDF and the Artesenal oil palm millers association came to register the entire general public for them to also get some of the seedlings.
DELAY IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE SEEDLINGS
Members of the association and the general public together with the chiefs of the various towns and villages started raising important question about the arrival of the seedlings saying that, the planting season is almost over as the rains is about to stop and that if it does not come within this few weeks then planting cannot be done during the dry season which was so true and that the leaders of the association should say something to them because they have spent closely to a GH₵ 1500.00 in preparing their lands and that if it does not come then we have to make them incur a lot of lost. Some members and Nananom began thinking that the association together with the government have come to deceive them. The leadership of the association were on a daily basis moving from one town to the other calming down people and reassuring them of the seedlings to come.
On the blind side of the association, the MP of Kade has gone to MDF restricting them from issuing the seedlings to the people of Kwaebibirem, the very people he rules as Member of Parliament but all his plans failed.
So the leaders were told last week that their trucks are only six and two of them have broken down meanwhile they are serving the whole nation.
DECISION TO SUPPORT T&T
Leadership therefore met with the coordinators and the general public about this and therefore a decision was reached that a GH 1 will be charged so that we can be able to bring the seedlings to the farmers.
ARRIVAL OF THE SEEDLINGS FINALLY AND THE UNFORTUNATE INTERCEPTION BY THE MP AND HIS PA AND NEARLY LYNCHED OF OPDAG ORGANISER
The first to load by the seedlings which was made up of three trucks came in and two of the trucks was ordered to take the Otumi zone and one truck took the Asuom Abaam Tweapease zone. Unfortunately the two trucks which took the Otumi zone as stopped in between Subi and Nkwantanang road by the MP PA and the secretary of the party and chased the OPDAG organizer away with cutlasses, and other harmful weapons and up till now we have not seen the organizer. The MP and his PA actually went to Nkwantanang to insight the public that the seedlings are for free and so they are there to exploit money from them. This led to the flee of the distributors of the seedlings and the OPDAG organizer since then has not been seen.
We are therefore calling on the MP and his PA to immediately produce the organizer and bring back to us the seedlings.
QUESTIONS FOR THE MP
We are asking the MP to tell us why he did not bring more of the seedlings to us but rather got only 50 trees to his delegates alone, meanwhile, you know it is free.
We want to ask the MP if he will run for the seat again since our problems are not his priority.
We are also telling him that if the seedlings does not come then he should not stay foot into any of the towns here in the constituency since he has shown to us clearly that, he is not doing anything in our interest as a people and again should come and render an unqualified apologies to the people of Kwaebibirem.
