Be accountable to us and stop insulting our chiefs – MP tells DCE

The Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region; Hon. Thomas Ampem Nyarko has descended heavily on the District Chief Executive, Hon. Samuel Kwame Agyekum for calling the Chiefs of Anum and Boso and by Extension Akwamuhene Odeneho Kwafo Akoto as liars and greedy people for requesting from him their community’s share of money and logistics meant for COVID-19 fight in the district.

The District Chief Executive in an interview granted to a local radio station; Asuogyaman FM accused the M.P, Hon. Thomas Ampem Nyarko of engaging in propaganda by telling the constituents various sums of money and other donations received by the district to fight the pandemic.

He further in another interview granted to Right FM in Somanya said the chiefs in the district especially the Adontenhene of Anum is not the ones in charge of the common fund and so cannot tell him what to do with money and donations received from government and other organizations.

 HON. THOMAS AMPEM’S RESPONSE

“During the Odeneho tour on the Corona Virus, someone at Osiabura wanted to know what resources the government has given to fight the virus and I responded as follows;
Parliament approved 1.2billion cedis release from the stabilization fund to help fight the virus

The government again has gone for a 1billion dollar credit facility from the IMF for budget support

50,000 cedis was sent to each assembly to help in the fight against COVID 19

Almost 700,000 cedis(696,842.43) were transferred to the Asuogyaman district assembly out of which 166,280.43 was to be used to finance COVID 19 programs.

Another 20,000 cedis was sent by the MLGRD to each assembly to help in the fight against the virus.

In addition to these funds, the assembly has received many other logistics including

1.  200 boxes of hand sanitizers from Hon Kwame Adu Darkwa

2. 150 bags of rice, sanitizers, etc from Afcon, the company constructing the railway lines

3. VRA and others have all made donations to the good people of Asuogyaman through the District Assembly

4. Ministry of local government has given many items including Veronica buckets, sanitizers, liquid soaps, tissue papers, etc to the assemblies.

5. The government has given thousands of face masks and sanitizers to the assemblies.

Let the Hon DCE deny that these are not true. As to how he distributes them is up to him. But I urge all assembly members to lobby to get some of these in their respective electoral areas. It isn’t out of place for chiefs who want the safety of their people to ask what the government through the assembly is doing to support them.

The hon DCE was on Asuogyaman FM last week accusing me that by telling the good people of Asuogyaman of funds that have come to help fight the virus, I’m engaging in propaganda.
On the contrary, as the people’s representative, I see it as my duty to direct them to sources of funds and logistics to complement what I’m giving them to enable them to overcome the challenges they’re facing.

Nobody is asking the hon DCE to share these monies to anyone, but we must see evidence of equitable distribution and implementation of COVID 19 programs across the district

It is very shameful for the hon DCE Samuel Agyekum to call our respected chief a liar, especially when all evidence suggests that the chief was right.
My advice to him is to do the needful. He should apologize unconditionally.
He should stop the further insult of the chiefs that they’re being influenced by my good self. I wish I had that much influence though.

As a member of parliament, I strive to be equitable in the distribution of my meager resources.
In recognizing that Asuogyaman is made up of 3 traditional councils and a good number of wonderful settler communities, I ensure that the distribution of resources reflects that reality. I have donated PPEs to the Apeguso Clinic, Anum Clinic and Boso Clinic, Mangoase Clinic, The Akosombo District Police, etc.

I have given 2000 cedis to the chiefs of Akwamu in support of their COVID 19 programs. I have donated some to the chiefs of Anum and have sent another 2,000 to be donated to the chiefs of Boso, also as a token contribution to their effort at fighting the virus in our communities.

As I always do, I’m going to meet with the Ewe traditional leaders council and will support them in any program that they roll out, these notwithstanding the thousands of hand sanitizers, face masks, Veronica buckets and food items that I continue to distribute as my contribution in the fight against this virus. This I advise my successor DCE to learn and eschew the arrogance he is beginning to exhibit”.