Pressure Mounts on Abuga Pele to go Independent

Some members of the ruling National Democratic Congress in the Chiana/Paga constituency are mounting pressure on the incumbent Member of Parliament for the area Hon. Abuga Pele to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections as an independent candidate.

According to them, the former GYEEDA boss whom they described as affable, trustworthy and hardworking is the best choice of the people hence the need for him to return to parliament.

The livid party faithful poured out their anger at Saturday’s parliamentary primaries which saw the incumbent MP losing marginally to Lawyer Rudolf Amenga-etego. They accused Lawyer Amenga-etego of conniving with some New Patriotic Party loyalists to infiltrate membership of their party to vote for him.

“Most NPP members were present at the polling stations instructing people to vote for Lawyer. The voters registers used in the East zone were also fraudulent and does not represent the true voter populace of the NDC. All the registered voters of Kurugu, a section under Kandiga, Rudolf’s hometown had their names in the voters register majority of whom are from the NPP camp” they alleged.

District Chief Executive for the area, George Nonterah was also accused of being in bed with lawyer Amenga-etigo which saw his victory during the primaries.

“The DCE was spotted conveying and instructing people to vote for Lawyer Rudolf.”

The press conference read by Michael Gantera also accused national executives of the governing NDC for playing a role that saw the defeat of Apuga Pele.

Apuga Pele’s leadership as national boss of then Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) now Youth Employment Agency (YEA) according to the constituents “contributed to the success of the party in the Chiana-Paga Constituency and the nation at large.”

The angry constituents also asserted that Mr. Pele has been treated unfairly, ignored and marginalized with impunity when it came to ministerial appointments.

They pledged to follow legitimate procedure to compel the incumbent MP to contest as an independent candidate in the November polls. The constituents also vowed to convert the NDC party office at the constituency which they claimed was built by and on a piece of land owned by Mr. Pele to the MP’s candidature colours.

Find below the full statement.

PRESS RELEASE

CHIANA-PAGA NDC CONSTITUENTS COMPEL HON. ABUGA PELE TO GO INDEPENDENT

The NDC parliamentary primaries result came as a shock to majority of the party faithfuls because the incumbent was (and is still) the choice of the people. His faithfulness to the party and his demeanor as an outstanding politician won him the support of the constituents over the years. This is evident in the results of the previous general elections both parliamentary and presidential.

Indeed, it is, regrettable that though a long-serving, committed and dedicated, and selfless MP, Honorable Abuga Pele was marginalized with impunity when it came to ministerial appointments. HonourableAbuga Pele has, since 1992, remained resolute and highly committed to the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Needless to say that, Hon Abuga Pele is not only well-seasoned politician, but also an affable, trustworthy and hardworking young man who can be relied upon to champion the vision of the party. Above all he is people-oriented and has always worked in the supreme interest of his people.

HonourableAbuga Pele’s loyalty to the NDC Party cannot be questioned; he has kept faith with the NDC Party since 1992, while the personal contributions of Hon. Abuga Pele during the general election could not be measured.  Apparently, the National Youth Employment Programme (now  Youth Employment Agency), which was coordinated by Hon. Abuga Pele, contributed to the success of the party in the Chiana-Paga Constituency and the nation at large; hundreds of thousands of people especially the youth were engaged in one module or the other and thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country.

It is therefore very unfair to ignore a person who has devotedly worked for the party and made personal contributions to ensure that the party is formidably rooted. What crime have we committed to deserve such an unfair treatment? Perhaps our only fault or crime is that we have been too lenient and civil in pressing home our demands from government. But must we indulge in actions that have the tendency to plunge our constituency into chaos, thereby casting a slur on the integrity of our party just because we have been treated unfairly by the Party?

We are very grieved with the outcome of the results for very serious and obvious reasons:

STATISTICS

1. In 2012, of a total number of 35,080 votes cast in the Presidential Election, NDC won massively with 25,815 votes, constituting 73.59%  while, NPP got a total of 6,659 (18.98%)votes, 2,597 (7.43%)  went to the other political parties.
2. With the Parliamentary, NDC (Hon. Abuga Pele) led with 21,552 votes representing 61.5%, NPP had 7,246 votes 20.6%, while 6,276 (17.8%) went to the other parties. This overwhelming performance is a clear demonstration of the people’s commitment to the party.
3. On the regional basis (Upper East Region), Chiana-Paga Constituency led with 73.59 % followed by Bolgatanga Central and Bolgatanga East with 72.09% and 71.64% respectively. All the other constituencies in the region fell below 70%. The performance of the party since 1992 has been consistent under Hon. Abuga Pele.
4. The seat remained under the stewardship of Hon. Abuga Pele from 2000-2008 even when the NDC was in opposition for the two consecutive terms. This table shows the results from 2000 to 2008

Clearly the failure of the party to retain the seat in 2008 based on the sole interest of Lawyer Rudolf Amenga-etego to unseat Hon. Abuga and have the seat won by the NPP although Late President John Evans Atta Mills won the Presidential slot, the astute politician, Hon Abuga Pele moved the party back to power in 2012 with the widest margin among all other constituencies in the whole region.

2. CONSTITUENCY PRIMARIES

The just ended constituency parliamentary primaries which saw Lawyer Rudolf emerging winner although not fair is once again his sole interest to unseat Hon. Abuga Pele and lose the seat to the NPP. Lawyer Rudolf connived with the NPP and had the elections influenced because most NPP members were present at the polling stations instructing people to vote for Lawyer. The voters registers used in the East zone were also fraudulent and does not represent the true voter populace of the NDC. All the registered voters of Kurugu, a section under Kandiga, Rudolf’s hometown had their names in the voters register majority of whom are from the NPP camp. It was therefore very upsetting and disheartening when the final results was announced with Lawyer Rudolf pulling 4,337 votes as against 4,177 giving a difference of 161 votes. The worst of all is that, on the Friday when Hon. Pele went to a section in Sirigu town to campaign, Lawyer Rudolf incited his people to hoot and beat Hon. Abuga but the swift intervention of Hon. Peles’ team saved the situation. Again, on the election day when Hon. Went to Kandiga to monitor the exercise, Lawyer Rudolf who was also at the scene upon seeing hon. Asked his people to beat Hon. Abuga Pele up. It took the intervention of Honorable’s able security to save the situation. Is this the kind of leader the NDC party wants to represent the good people of the Chiana-Paga constituency in Parliament?

3. THE DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE

The District Chief Executive who works closely with hon. Abuga Pele to pursue governments’ agenda turned to rather pursue the course of Lawyer Rudolf which will ultimately sell the seat to the opposition NPP similar to the incident of 2008. The DCE was spotted conveying and instructing people to vote for Lawyer Rudolf. The DCE has not been helpful to the NDC party because:

• He does not attend youth/community base organized programs
• Attends funerals and commission projects alone
• Waded into electoral controversy

Above all, His incompetence is reorganized by the NDC national office and all constituents. We therefore call on government to strip him of his post within one week or face our wrath.

4. NATIONAL EXECUTIVES

Also, the role of some national executives contributed negatively to the downfall of Hon. Abuga Pele our cherished and hardworking MP. Infact, when the elections date was finally set by the party executives signed by Johnson AseiduNketia, General Secretary of the NDC to take place on the 9^th July only for us to be taken aback that it was postponed to 16^th July. We think that, this is only cock and bull because this couldn’t be due to the visit of the President to the region. Aside that, we were told that the ballot papers were not ready. However, this was disagreed by the electoral commission that they were not informed about an election in the Chiana-Paga constituency. We believe once again that, it was manipulation to get the winner ready for the election since his paid masters who are among the national executives knew he will lose the election. Aside, the said candidate could not file on the said day but was not disqualified by general mosquito who will always talk about party discipline. You can guess his pay masters yourselves.

Indeed, the constituents are bruised to the heart, and wish to state in unequivocal terms that, Hon Abuga Pele will retain the seat in the 2016 general elections as an independent candidate to continue to pursue the interest of the people regardless of whichever party wins the presidency.

We wish to conclude that a peaceful atmosphere in the Constituency is a prerequisite to sound development and the key to the progress of our people, and so all committed and dedicated constituents have endeavored to follow legitimate procedures to compel Hon. Abuga Pele to contest as an independent candidate and to campaign vigorously for Him to ensure that, He wins overwhelmingly in the 2016 general elections.

We hope that the fears and anxieties of our people will surely be allayed, and that our dear Hon. Abuga Pele will surely emerge winner in the upcoming elections to represent the constituency to continue with the good work he has done for the people. We know what we want and we shall surely come after it, but only through legitimate means. We will only advise ourselves if legitimate means cannot get us what we want.

Long live the Chiana-Paga Constituency

Long live honorable Abuga Pele

Long live chiefs and people of Chiana-Paga Constituency

Long live Kasena-Nankana West District!

Thank you.

MICHAEL GANTERA

0200674931

(Secretary)

ALHAJI IBRAHIM AYAMGA

0507001114

(Constituent)

ADATU ANTHONY

0206910942

(Constituent)

HAJJ SULEMANA

0243911649

(Constituent)

AKUGRE AMBROSE

0202820344

(Constituent)

By: Joshua Asaah | A1RADIOONLINE.com | Ghana