Ex-NDC candidate goes solo in Suame
From Simmons Yussif Kewura, Kumasi
The two time parliamentary candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Paul Richard Kwadwo Yeboah, has decided to contest this year’s election as an independent candidate for the Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region.
Mr. Yeboah, who contested on the NDC ticket in 1996 and 2004, told The Chronicle in an interview that he was going solo because of ill-treatment meted out to him by his party after the 2008 general elections.
He explained that he did not contest for the 2000 and 2008 elections because of education and ill-health.
According to him, in 2000 he was supposed to be the candidate for the NDC, but could not do so, because he was continuing his education, and that at the time nominations opened in 2008, he was ill, but supported the NDC candidate for the last election.
He told The Chronicle that because he was not able to contest the 2008 elections, the NDC had decided to treat him as an alien.
According to him, after the elections, when the NDC took over power, he sent his details for an appointment, but the Ashanti Regional hierarchy did not even bother to receive them, neither did they see him as a member of the party.
Mr. Yeboah said since then he decided not to contribute anything to the party, saying, “for now, I am not a member of the NDC, neither would I join the opposition NPP.”
Touching on his chances of winning the seat, the aspirant said the people of the constituency know what he can do when voted to represent them in Parliament.
He said he lost twice to Kyei Mensah Osei Bonsu because generally, the constituents don’t like the NDC, but this time round, he was optimistic of wrestling the seat from the Minority Leader.
He said: “I am a native and royal of Bremang, and people like me so much that I know they will vote for me, since I am not affiliating myself with NDC.”
Mr. Yeboah accused the incumbent MP, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, of doing nothing to give the constituency a facelift.
According to him, Bremang, in particular, was worst off in terms of development, and that the road network in the constituency was nothing good to write home about.
He, therefore, called on the people to vote for him, since he had the people at heart, and was very sensitive to their plights.
Mr. Yeboah, 55, is an educationist at a rank of deputy Director of Education, and has his schedules as Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Officer. He is also in charge of second cycle institutions in the Afigya-Kwabre District of the Ashanti Region.
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