A group by name ‘Coalition of Critical Thinkers’ is calling on President Akufo-Addo to immediately remove from office the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Garu, Emmanuel Asore Avoka.
According to the aggrieved members of the pro- NPP (New Patriotic Party) group, Mr. Avoka, after his defeat during the party’s primaries, neither campaigned for the NPP Parliamentary Candidate, Osman Musah nor President Akufo-Addo in the just ended general elections.
Sources from within indicate that there has been an apparently fragile relationship between the Parliamentary Candidate and the DCE which consequently replicated between their supporters; following a keenly contested NPP parliamentary primary in the Garu constituency.
According to reports, Mr. Musah, as part of his efforts to reunite the party at the constituency level as well as wrestle the seat from the NDC, knelt down to plead for peace during the inauguration of a 29-member Constituency Campaign Team ahead of the December polls.
But the gesture seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as the petitioners alleged that the DCE who was part of the Garu constituency campaign team of the NPP, was rather “seen on campaign platforms in Tempane”, an action which according to them, infuriated the constituents of Tempane who voted against Joseph Dindiok Kpemka. Hence, his loss of the Tempane seat to NDC’s Lydia Adakudugu.
The petition signed by Andrews Atariwini further accused the DCE to have awarded contracts to his cohorts who are said to be sympathizers of the NDC.
According to the group, the misconduct of the DCE has created disunity among party folks which saw the defeat of the NPP parliamentary candidate for the area, as well as a corresponding reduction of the votes of President Akufo-Addo in this year’s election.
“We can report on authority that he never campaigned for you nor the Parliamentary Candidate in the Garu Constituency in this year’s elections that just ended and resulted in your Victory. His decision not to campaign resulted in a whooping reduction in your votes from 8,806 in 2016 to just 8,400 in 2020! When we were in opposition, as it has always been, NPP Presidential votes appreciated from 6,509 in 2012 to 8,806 in 2016.”
“We anticipated a further increment in our Presidential votes margin now that we are in power with all government machinery and projects at our disposal, however, the actions of the DCE has rather reduced not only our Parliamentary votes but also affected our Presidential votes. They couldn’t have been enough evidence than this statistics.” The petition read.
It concluded that “Your Excellency, it is clear the DCE is not a believer of your vision, he is not committed to work for the betterment of his people and thus not appreciative of the honour of being appointed to such a noble office.”
“We are thus recommending to your high office to consider the removal of Hon. Emmanual Asore Avoka as DCE of the Garu District with immediate effect. His replacement, we are optimistic will united the party, compliment the overwhelming endorsement of your second term in office and give Garu a prosperous future.”
Attached is the full statement
COALITION OF CRITICAL THINKERS
GARU CONSTITUENCY
UPPER EAST REGION
SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
JUBILEE HOUSE
KANDA- ACCRA 13TH DECEMBER, 2020.
Dear Sir,
PETITION AGAINST THE DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (DCE) OF THE GARU DISTRICT ASSEMBLY.
We pray your distinguished office to, with the needed urgency, consider this petition as being critical to curtailing issues from escalating in the Garu District which is also a Constituency. As party loyalists who have been vocal in echoing your pro-poor policies that has come in handy and has the potency to ameliorate the plight of the suffering masses of Ghanaians especially the people of the Garu District, deem it a moral obligation, a sacred duty and indeed a great sense of patriotism to bring to your attention some pressing concerns regarding the conduct of the Garu DCE, Hon. Emmanuel Asore Avoka during the entire December 2020 elections period.
Sir, we can report from evidential standpoint that your policies are working miracles, peoples’ income are soaring, many lives are being lifted from the quagmire of poverty in their thousands thereby reducing unemployment in Garu for which we are grateful. In spite of the sterling performance of your government, Mr. President, Hon. Emmanuel Asore Avoka has in diverse ways not only sabotaged this government’s efforts but ‘sold’ it out for personal gains. Indeed, since his appointment, the party in the Constituency has been fragmented. Unity has eluded the rank and file of the party and has virtually affecting the entirety of the District. The points listed below are few of the issues explained for your perusal and action:
- The DCE has pitched himself against the progress of the party since he lost his bid to represent the NPP as Parliamentary Candidate in the Constituency. His malignant actions are known to the party’s leadership from the region to the national secretariat. His actions which we hoped could mellow with time have now been entrenched beyond any logical comprehension. We can report on authority that he never campaigned for you nor the Parliamentary Candidate in the Garu Constituency in this year’s elections that just ended and resulted in your Victory. His decision not to campaign resulted in a whooping reduction in your votes from 8,806 in 2016 to just 8,400 in 2020! When we were in opposition, as it has always been, NPP Presidential votes appreciated from 6,509 in 2012 to 8,806 in 2016. We anticipated a further increment in our Presidential votes margin now that we are in power with all government machinery and projects at our disposal, however, the actions of the DCE has rather reduced not only our Parliamentary votes but also affected our Presidential votes. They couldn’t have been enough evidence than this statistics.
- Furthermore, Hon. Emmanuel Asore used his office to resource his cohorts most of them NDC sympathizers with contracts against the party’s grassroots and refused to resource adequately the party’s campaign in Garu.
Additionally, the DCE has withheld every relevant data and information on Projects implemented by your government in the Constituency from the our 2020 campaign team. This went a long way to disarm and indeed forced a shutdown of the party’s communication bureau in the constituency. More frustrating of his actions that defies logic and raises the critical questions whether he is truly a patriot that support your vision of transforming the District and the country as a whole is his obsession with the divide and rule methodology. This has created a vacuum in the party’s ability to articulate the gains of the party in the area, hence allowed our opponent claim rights of some projects and programmes. For example, at a community durbar organized by the Bimoba Students Union where the PC was a guest of honour, we were surprised that the NDC MP was claiming to be the brain behind the rural electrification project that was ongoing in the Constituency among other social intervention like the LEAP and other projects. This has been the sorry state of our predicament in the Garu Constituency Sir. Even though he was named as one of the heads of our 2020 campaign teams, he never got out to campaign in Garu.He was rather seen on the campaign platforms in Tempane where we are told his involvement in a different Constituency aside his own infuriated people to vote against Him. Joseph Dindiok Kpemka.
Your Excellency, it is clear that the DCE is not a believer of your vision, he is not committed to work for the betterment of his people and thus not appreciative of the honour of being appointed to such a noble office. We are thus recommending to your high office to consider the removal of Hon. Emmanual Asore Avoka as DCE of the Garu District with immediate effect. His replacement, we are optimistic will united the party, compliment the overwhelming endorsement of your second term in office and give Garu a prosperous future.
We are most grateful for the opportunity.
…signed…………..
ANDREW A. ATARIWINI
0244869615
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Joshua Asaah|Ghana
