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Ghana’s Attorney General sparked another debate in Parliament as he proposes a fresh election for the Buem Constituency, to make way for residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) to exercise their franchise.
In Godfred Yeboah Dame’s view, this will offer an opportunity for SALL residents to be captured under the said area.
The Buem Constituency currently has National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Kofi Adams as its Member of Parliament.
The A-G was in Parliament to answer an urgent question on the status of the Constitutional Instrument for the creation of a constituency for SALL residents.
“The solution is not just the annulment or revocation of the L.I but it must be coupled with the annulment of the Buem Parliamentary elections,” he said.
SALL residents have complained that the Electoral Commission’s failure to allow them to vote in the 2020 parliamentary elections amounted to a breach of their rights.
According to them, the creation of the Oti Region coupled with a recent Supreme Court decision and failure of the EC to create a constituency for them has deprived them of representation and development.
Mr Dame faulted Parliament for the delay in creating a constituency arguing the House’s inability to sit for 21 days during the 7th Parliament contributed to the delay.
He explained that the A-G at the time “advised the Electoral Commission (EC) that having regard to the limited timeframe for the passage of the proposed C.I to amend C.I. 128, it was not advisable for it to be laid before Parliament.”
He wants the Parliament to bear full responsibility because “if the House had revoked the L.I 16 that created the Guan district, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this situation.”
But the AG also indicated that SALL residents will only have representation in Parliament after the 2024 elections.
It’s a joke
But MP for Buem, Kofi Adams, believes this proposal by the Attorney General is a mark of the government’s incompetence in handling the matter.
“This clearly shows that we have an incompetent government that was bestowed on us. This is not the first time we have had to amend our constituency boundaries. In each of those cases, we have never seen this level of incompetence. But this shows that the government has been incompetent in handling our local government creation of the constituency. But for what he said, I see it as a joke. He was evasive with the real issues that came from his answers. But I am ready for any elections in Buem.”
SOURCE: myjoyonline.com and News Agencies
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