Numo Adinortey joins Ashaiman NDC race
A former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ashaiman, Numo Adinortey, has declared his intention to contest in the parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the constituency.
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He told the Daily Graphic that he had the skills, experience and vision required to represent the people of Ashaiman in Parliament.
Mr Adinortey is the fourth member of the party in the constituency to declare his intention to contest the incumbent, Mr Alfred Agbesi, in the primaries slated for November 7, 2015.
The others are Messrs Tony Afenyo, a former constituency vice chairman of the party who contested the 2012 parliamentary elections as an independent candidate; Ernest Norgbey, an officer of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and Emmanuel Max Voy, an educationist.
Vision
Mr Adinortey who was MCE from 2009 to 2012, said having been born and bred in Ashaiman and having served as MCE for four years, he knew the needs of the people and was the best person, among all the contestants, to solve the problems that confronted the constituents.
He said Mr Agbesi had failed to help develop the area and was only interested in entrenching himself in power.
"The current MP only prepares for elections . When it comes to elections, all he does is to organise people to vote for him and whatever means he needs to adopt, he does. Now that the way of electing the candidate has changed, things are going to change for him," he said.
Mr Adinortey said if he won the primaries and eventually the parliamentary elections, he would lobby for infrastructural projects for the constituency.
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His vision, according to him, was to improve the road network, ensure that a hospital was sited in the constituency and have more public schools constructed.
He said if he got the nod he would develop the local economy and assist unemployed National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth to secure or create their own jobs.
"I will bring all unemployed NDC youth in the constituency together, categorise them and bring experts to assist them in identifying areas where they can create jobs. We have to help them to do something for themselves .
“The government sector cannot employ all of them and we have to make them understand that they can create their own jobs," he said.
Why contesting now
According to Mr Adinortey, he ignored calls to contest Mr Agbesi when he was MCE.
He indicated that in 2012, Mr Agbesi promised not to contest in 2016 and that 2012 was the last time he would seek to become Member of Parliament .
He stated that Mr Agbesi also promised to support him in 2016, adding that the u-turn made by the incumbent, therefore, came as a surprise to him.
He said he was heeding the calls of his supporters who thought he was best qualified to become MP.
The former MCE said Mr Agbesi stood no chance of winning the primaries, adding "If you hear what people are saying about him, if they are really sincere, then he stands no chance."
"Even people who are not core party members say they are fed up with him. People say he has not done anything for the constituency, " he intimated.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that an MP was only a lawmaker and a representative of the people and not an agent of development, Mr Adinortey said an MP also had the responsibility of lobbying for the siting of development projects in his or her constituency.
In his opinion, Mr Agbesi had failed to do that.
"How many times did he come to discuss development issues with me when I was MCE? He has no idea about development projects in the constituency. I mooted the idea that we should redevelop the Ashaiman market. But he led the market women to kick against it," he said.
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Expansion of the electoral college
Turning the spotlight on the expansion of the party's electoral college, Mr Adinortey said the new rules would eliminate corruption in the election of parliamentary candidates.
He said in the past, candidates camped delegates and paid them money to vote for them " but this time you can't do that. "