A former presiding member of the Obuasi Municipal Assembly, Lawrence Nana Obeng Bondah, has picked a nomination form to contest the NPP parliamentary primary in the Obuasi West constituency slated for January 27, 2024.
Popularly known as Nana Bondah, the aspiring PC has also served as the Assembly member of the Anyinam electoral area and has been credited for spearheading some developmental projects in the electoral area and the Obuasi Municipality.
He is going into the contest with two (2) other people, including the incumbent Member of Parliament, Kwaku Agyeman Kwarteng, who is hoping to serve his fourth term in Parliament after entering the legislative house in 2012.
Speaking with the media, he said he was in the race to give the people of Obuasi the befitting representation they needed in Parliament.
He said the incumbent MP has been allowed to serve the people of Obuasi for 3 consecutive terms, hence the time has come for him to give way for others to serve the people.
“Kwaku Kwarteng has done his best and has been duly recognized by the party with some appointments including Deputy Minister of Finance, but the time has come for him to also give way for others to also serve our people.”
He acknowledged the roads and hospitals built under the leadership of the incumbent MP in the last 12 years, saying that a lot could have been done to close the infrastructural gap.
Message to the delegates
Employment
Lawrence Nana Obeng Bondah bemoaned the rate of unemployment among the youth of Obuasi, stressing that the NPP played a major role in the comeback of AngloGold Ashanti but could not fathom why the current MP has not been instrumental in the recruitment of the youth of Obuasi into the Obuasi mine.
“This is something I will focus on when I get the mandate from my delegates and the people of Obuasi. We have the expertise to work in Obuasi, but our leaders are not doing enough to push our youth into AGA. This is something I will take up as a project and ensure our boys get jobs at the Mine.”
Establishment of Technical University
The aspiring parliamentary candidate of the NPP assured to lead the establishment of a Technical University in Obuasi. He said Obuasi, with its rich history as a mining town, needed a technical University to train persons who aspire to be in the Obuasi Mine, as well as artisanal miners.
He said that based on his track record of playing a key role in the establishment of the KNUST-Obuasi campus as a presiding member.
Establishment of MP’s office
Nana Obeng Bondah chided the current MP for his lack of accessibility, stressing that Hon. Kwaku Kwarteng hardly attends public functions in Obuasi. “When was the last time you saw the MP at any public function?” Nana Bondah quizzed.
He said to avail himself to the constituents, he will establish an MP’s office with a Secretary. This will enable him to attend to the pressing needs of his people.
Restore NPP’s electoral gains
The former Presiding member again accused the Member of Parliament of not doing enough to protect the electoral gains of NPP. He said under the leadership of Kwaku Kwarteng, the NDC is becoming more popular and gaining ground in Obuasi.
This, he said, is due to the apathy within the party, a situation he said will be a thing of the past once he is given the nod to lead the party into election 2024.
Bring back unity within the party
The NPP in the Obuasi West constituency is saddled with a lack of unity, backbiting, victimization, and autocracy according to the presidential hopeful. A situation, he said, does not bode well for the party.
“Now, people are not able to voice out their grievances for fear of victimization. This has led to divisions in our party. I will lead a campaign to restore unity. I have done this before, when I was the presiding member, I brought Assembly members together to support the current MCE.”
He again lamented the party’s inability to build its own party office. He said the incumbent MP has failed to build a party office for the constituency after 12 years of becoming MP.
He called on the party delegates to support his bid by voting for him to enable the party to ‘break the 8’.
