Former Assembly member for Asem Electoral Area, Thomas Ekow Sackey, is staging a comeback with a mission to serve his people. He has since filed to contest in the upcoming local election, slated for December 19, 2023.
Popularly known as Ogede, he believes among the three people contesting the election that, he is the right person to serve the people of Asem.
In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Ogede, who has served the said electoral area for two terms, said his comeback is based on a request from the Asem community.
“I have not left anything at KMA that I am going for, but the community is increasingly calling on me to come back because they need me to serve them as their assembly member again. If the elders say they need my service, how can I turn down their plea,” he asked.
According to him, when one goes to the assembly (KMA), he or she learns a lot and such knowledge is transferred back to the electoral area for development.
He indicated that, ever since he declined to contest the Asem electoral area seat, anytime an issue crops up in the community, the residents run to him for assistance, all because of the cordial relationship he has with them.
Ogede named some of his achievements during his tenure as provision of mechanised borehole and tarring of Asem electoral area roads with asphalt. He expressed worry over the worsening security in the Asem cluster of schools, after he left office.
“Since I declined to contest, the Asem cluster of schools has been a no-go area after six o’clock in the evening,” he said, adding “since the school is not fenced, it has allowed all manner of people to use the place as their refuge and thoroughfare.
“Whilst academic work is underway, you would see people loitering on the school’s compound, as if they are parents coming to see their wards, but they turn out to be thieves, stealing from the teachers.”
Ogede told The Chronicle that in an attempt to curb insecurity and disruption of academic work at the Asem cluster of schools, he would seek assistance to erect a fence wall to ward off criminals from the place.
According to him, because Institutions like Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), Ghana School of Languages (GSL), Baptist University College and Kumasi Anglican Senior High School (KASHS) are all in the electoral area, he cooperated with the police when he was in office to boost security in the community.
He expressed worry that in an era where Astroturf parks have become a common sight in Ghanaian societies, same cannot be said about Asem electoral area, where the famous Corners football club park is located.
He mentioned former President John Agyekum Kufuor, late Akwasi Agyemang, late Major Cobbina, late global icon Kofi Annan among others as former students of the Asem cluster of schools.
The famous Asem Corners football park, according to Ogede, who once played for Corners Footbal Club, has trained uncountable number of footballers, many of whom have enjoyed successful careers.
He mentioned some of them as Akweteh Armah, Addison, Sackey, Quainoo and Abdul Razak, who later joined Kotoko and was crowned Africa’s best footballer.
According to him, in time past, Asem used to be a destination where all community gala matches were played.
