Parliamentary candidates in the Bimbilla constituency of the Northern Region, have pledged to engage in issue-based campaign ahead of the polls.
Bimbilla is a volatile area which has seen several curfews in recent years.
The candidates made the pledge during a parliamentary debate organized by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) with support from the European Union.
Four candidates are contesting for the parliamentary seat in the Bimbilla constituency; but only three candidates turned up for the debate: National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour-Rockson, the Convention People’s Party’s (CPP) Alhassan Samed, and the Progressive People’s Party’s (PPP) Iddisah Zehara.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, who is the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Bimbilla constituency, Dominic Nitiwul, did not participate in the debate.
Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour- Rockson, pledged to consolidate the peace and stop the inter-tribal conflict between Nanumbas and Konkombas. He says he has set aside cash reward for any inter-tribal marriages between Nanumbas and Konkombas.
He believes such marriages could help to end the protracted ethnic conflict between the two tribes.
“Peace is very important in Nanung, and I believe strongly that peace is holding in Nanung. When we talk about peace, we should thank the security forces such as the police and the army for the excellent work they are doing. We are very thankful to them.”
Iddisah Zehara (R)
Iddisah Zehara (R)
“As a parliamentary hopeful, one of things I should do is to listen, when you listen and communicate you are able to prevent conflicts, because there are tensions before conflicts. If I am elected to parliament, I will put my ears on the ground in this constituency to make sure that tensions do not overblow into open warfare or conflicts. I think we have failed in that aspect and we need a different face to be able to bring peace into the communities.”
“I have a campaign message that I have promised to provide money for a Nanumba or Konkomba who will marry from either tribe. I pledge this openly, we need to integrate to create peace and to live peacefully in Nanung. We need to bridge this bridge so that Nanumbas, Konkombas, Chekosis, Ashantis and any other tribe will live as brothers and sisters in Nanung.”
The CPP candidate, Samed, is however worried about the situation in Bimbilla, and urged the people to give peace a chance. According to him, without peace, there cannot be development in the area.
He thus called on the people to prove that they are peace loving people.
The PPP candidate, Iddisah Zehara, who is the only woman in the race, said women and children are most affected when there is conflict, and called on women in the constituency to stand up tell the men that enough is enough.
Some of the participants shared their views about the commitment of the candidates.
”I have seen that the things the aspirants are saying is good, politics is good. If you want to campaign, do that on issues, tell the electorates what you have done and will do if elected and not personal attacks. This will not bring about the peace that we all call for.”
”The organization is good, the moderator demonstrated high level of intelligence, the aspirants too handled themselves very well. I like their responses to the questions especially the NDC’s candidate, Dr. Joseph Kwabena Manbour-Rockson, actually I was impressed.”
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By: Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira citifmonline.com