THE DISTRICT Chief Executive (DCE) for the Akuapem North district in the Eastern region, George Opare Addo, last weekend clashed with the Member of Parliament for Okere in the district, Dan Botwe, over the construction of a fence wall round the community clinic at Abiriw.
This took place during the annual Eba (Ohum) festival of the chiefs and people of Abiriw-Akuapem in the district.
Addressing a durbar of the people, the MP promised to personally construct a fence wall round the community clinic, in a response to an appeal by the chief of the town, but when the DCE took the podium, he said the district assembly would not allow the MP to carry out the project because it was a project that was already in the pipeline and that materials were being procured for the project.
“Hon Dan Botwe will not construct the wall. The assembly will do it because the assembly has started the procurement process for the project,” the DCE said.
However, the MP told DAILY GUIDE that it was an important request by the people so that the clinic, patients, and medical personnel working there would be secured, adding that he saw it as an obligation to help the hospital secure that important facility.
According to Dan Botwe, during last year’s Ohum festival celebration, the DCE as well as the regional minister made a promise to construct the fence wall for them but that had not materialized.
“I have decided to this time round help finance the construction from my MP’s NHIS fund and it is surprising that the DCE wants to prevent me from doing that for my people,” he said.
He stressed that the money that would be used by the assembly for the construction of the wall could be channeled into a different project to benefit the people.
The MP said he was also going to help the town to construct two boreholes as a temporary measure to help solve the perennial water problem of the place, adding that government, in an answer to a statement he made on the floor of parliament concerning the difficulties the people of Okere faced in relation to the water problem, had assured that this year, it would permanently help solve the water problem.
The MP also noted that improving education in the constituency was one of his priorities and as an MP, he would look for funds to help improve education in the constituency.
The DCE, on his part, said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had a brought a lot of development to the area and ensured that there was unity amongst Akuapem chiefs and all indigenes of the area.
He said the government would help develop the enormous tourism potential of the area to help promote development of the area.
Earlier, the chief of Abiriw, Nana Kwame Henaku II, in a address had called on politicians, both in power and in opposition, to ensure that the relative peace the country was enjoying was jealously protected.
“Good governance is a crucial pre-requisite for peaceful co-existence and we urge all who matter to ensure that the peace of the country is not sacrificed for the benefit of a few selfish individuals,” he said.
He also called on the media to be very circumspect in their reportage in the run-up to the next general elections to avoid creating unnecessary tension in the country.
From Thomas Fosu Jnr, Abiriw-Akuapem