Baba Jamal sprays cash?As he steals show at Akwatia

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Scores of people at Akwatia, a diamond mining community in the Eastern Region, including the National Security Advisor, Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah, on Thursday June 28, 2012 were thrown into a state of shock and utter-bewilderment at the inauguration of the new Denkyembour District in Akwatia when the Deputy minister of Tourism, Alhaji Baba Mohammed Jamal, virtually began distributing hundreds of cedis on the people.

Baba Jamal who doubles as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Akwatia constituency held the audience spellbound when without any plausible reason charged into the ?Borborbo? dancing frenzy and started dolling-out monies to the indigenes.

Some invited guests who could not hold back their disgust at the scene launched blistering verbal attacks on Baba Jamal on the grounds that they could not fathom why he indiscriminately doled out what they suspected to be tax payers? money to sycophants when Ghanaians are still languishing in abject poverty.

?We are particularly shocked and surprised at this public action of the deputy minister of the State? so is it this diabolical tactics the parliamentary candidates of the ruling NDC intend adopting to woo the people to vote for them in the December 7 polls?it is a big question Ghanaians should quickly demand an answer to,? a resident at Akwatia told this reporter.

Before the commencement of the occasion, a truck load of youth from Akwatia and its adjoining towns besieged the venue carrying placards which read: ?BABA JAMAL NDC & ATTA MILLS YOU ARE THE BEST,? ?NDC ALL THE WAY,? ?WE THANK NANANUM,? ?BABA JAMAL YOU ARE OUR SAVIUOR,? among others.

When Baba Jamal mounted the dais to address the audience, he virtually turned the occasion into a political campaign platform calling on the people in the Akwatia constituency to vote massively for him and President John Evans Atta Mills in the December 7 showdown.

Baba Jamal who was the former deputy General Secretary of the ruling NDC posited that the party will obtain majority votes in the forth-coming December 7 polls in the country

He explained that the massive projects initiated in the area has endeared the Atta Mills-led administration to the electorates, indicating that this will be an absolute ground for the people to repose their confidence in the party during election day.

He noted that even though the area was cut-off with regards to infrastructure development during the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, the area is now rated as one of the fastest growing areas in the Eastern Region; courtesy the good work of the incumbent government.

Although the current number of registered voters was in short of the number that existed in the previous register, Baba Jamal was relatively appreciative of the general turnout.
He therefore noted that the inconsistency in the registered number was as a result of the people leaving the area for school, work and other places, further indicating the NDC government?s commitment and preparedness to allocate a whopping $ 67 million to improve the social and infrastructure projects in the area.

He assured the people that as has always been the case, he was going to run a clean campaign, devoid of thuggery and insults, saying that peace was an essential commodity that the people of Akwatia and its adjoining environs must do well to cherish.

Quoting aspects of the Quran, Baba Jamal said peace brings about prosperity and that all must ensure that no one engages in acts that will destabilize the community.

He urged the youth in the area to exercise maximum restraint even at extreme provocation, saying that elections is about contest of ideas and not violence, insults or thuggery.

?Elections are not about ?all die be die,? but it?s about live and let?s live,? the MP aspirant stated, eliciting thunderous applause from the elated audience.

He further advised the youth to refuse to promote violence even when they are induced with money.

He said the development of the Akwatia constituency was on course adding the area has seen a facelift almost four years into office of the NDC.

Baba Jamal mentioned the renovation of schools, which had been in a dilapidated state for years, provision of free NHIS cards for thousands of people, construction of  drainages, job opportunities, giving loans from the Micro Finance and Small Loan Scheme (MASLOC) to women in the area, extension of rural electrification project  as some of  his achievements as an aspirant MP.

He promised that the area would see more development projects if elected as the substantive MP in the December 7 polls.

The deputy minister of Tourism called on other politicians to preach peace and strive for free and fair elections, adding that such initiatives will help promote development within the constituency.

On the creation of new District, Baba Jamal said the newly created district assembly will open a floodgate of opportunities for Akwatia and its adjoining environs to benefit from development.
He has therefore urged residents to rally behind their traditional authorities to complement the efforts of the government for a smooth take off of such districts.

STORY: KORYEKPOR AWLESU FREEMAN, BACK FROM AKWATIA, E/R

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