By Swala Abdul- Wahab
Former President John Mahama says the election of Alban Bagbin as Speaker of Parliament is a good omen for Ghana. He said this is so because his election and the hanged Parliament will check impunity on the part of the government to ensure accountability.
Former President Mahama said this when he called on the Overlord of Waala, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo at Wa as part of his visit to the region. The 2020 Flagbearer of the NDC said the Upper West region has played a significant role in the victory of the party in the last general election and expressed gratitude to the region for its support.
“ In the last election, if we take all the five Northern Regions, the Upper West Region had the highest percentage for the NDC in the Presidential election with 67%. We won the Presidential election in all the eleven constituencies in the Upper West Region and we increased our number of seats from 6 to 8. It’s been a very impressive performance. In the first term when the NPP had 169 seats in Parliament, they just did everything without consideration. It is my hope that this time Parliament would lead to stop any punitive action that this government might want to display. I want to thank Wanaa and all our traditional and religious leaders for your contribution to the peace of this country and your positive counselling during elections’’.
Former President Mahama said the Upper West region benefited a lot from development projects during the tenure of the NDC government. He appealed to the government to provide a seed capital for the Upper West Regional Hospital to enable it to function fully.
“ I want to draw the President’s attention to the Upper West Regional Hospital. Since he commissioned this, the hospital has not been given seed money to operate fully and so it is not operating at full capacity, which is supposed to be the major referral hospital for the people of the Upper West. So, while we think about building more hospitals, we must utilise the capacity that we have already because it will lack prioritization, if you have a wholly built Regional Hospital with all equipment that you need there and cannot operationalize it and yet prioritize the construction of a new hospital”.
The Overlord of Waala, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo commended Former President Mahama for exhibiting high level of statesmanship during and after the 2020 elections. Naa Pelpuo said the conduct of Mr. Mahama after the Supreme Court ruling on the election petition indicated that he is a man of peace who has the development of his people at heart.
