A MESSAGE FROM GBC’S ASHANTI REGIONAL CORRESPONDENT NICHOLAS OSEI-WUSU, aka KWADWO WUSU, ASPIRING ASSEMBLY MEMBER FOR THE NINTIN ELECTORAL AREA, MAMPONG MUNICIPLAITY AHEAD OF THE DEC. 19, 2023 DISTRICT LEVEL ELECTIONS
The Nintin Electoral Area is constituted by Nintin and Hwidiem within the Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti region. Nintin, in particular, is the gateway to the Municipality and is located immediately after the famous Mampong Scarp from the Kumasi direction.
The two communities are predominantly subsistence farmers. Their economic mainstay is petty trading and hawking along the main Kumasi-Mampong highway, predominated by banana.
This is the economic mainstay of the inhabitants, especially the women, whose main target market is commuters and motorists who patronise the commodity during stopovers. This gives the two communities an opportunity to create wealth and economic empowerment for the women to improve household incomes.
This is what I, Nicholas Osei-Wusu, if elected as the Assembly Member for the Electoral Area, plan to take advantage of to turn around the fortunes of the towns.
My Vision:
In this socio-economic plan, I intend to, with the cooperation and support of all interested individuals and groups, leverage my media advantage to promote becoming the destination of choice in Ghana for organic bananas, just as Akomadan is associated with tomatoes.
It is anticipated that, if this deliberate plan succeeds, the women in particular, who trade in this commodity, will enjoy astronomical patronage from across the country to increase their sales and income.
Another issue of concern to me is the acute potable water supply challenge faced by both Nintin and Hwidiem.
Residents of these two towns currently buy water from Bosofuor, close to Mampong, the Municipal capital, at a very high cost-transportation inclusive.
Despite years of tests for borehole water, efforts have been unsuccessful at this exploration due to the low water table, even though the two towns are rocky and hilly.
For Nintin in particular, almost all the springs the inhabitants used to draw their water for domestic and other activities have become unusable for various reasons including drying up.
The unreliable water supply situation is negatively impacting economic activities, school attendance in the two towns, and water-borne diseases.
If elected, I plan to continue with the initial steps I took with some of the leaders of Nintin in seeking extension of pipe-borne water from Mampong or seek any other viable alternative reliable water sources to serve the people.
I have as well identified poor sanitation as a major concern in especially Nintin such that open defecation is a common practice due to the lack of any decent alternative as against the obvious health and hygiene consequences thereof. I will therefore intensify my plea with the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area Water and Sanitation programme towards addressing the problem in order to resolve the poor sanitation and environmental hygiene conditions in the two towns.
Presently, residents of the two communities are battling attacks by strange insects, which bites are subtle but leave people with rashes and other uncomfortable skin conditions.
To address this health concern, I will liaise with the Municipal Environmental Health Directorate as well as the Municipal Health Directorate to identify the actual causative issues with the view to tackling the root cause of this serious health concern among the people.
Importantly, as the delegate or representative of the Electoral Area at the Mampong Municipal Assembly, I will try, as much as possible, to hold periodic meetings with the two communities and their opinion leaders, in accordance with the Local Government Act, to seek their views on issues to empower me sufficiently to participate in consideration of matters during Meetings of the Assembly.
Similarly, I will either meet with them or use the available Community Information Centres to share with them feedback from Meetings of the Assembly with the view to making the people active participants in governance at the grass-roots level and in the decision and policy-making processes.
Finally, I assure adequate and equitable representation of both Nintin and Hwidiem, but not to give undue advantage to any of the two towns constituting the electoral area.
This, I have already begun by using my electioneering campaign activities, including messages on the campaign materials such as banners and posters, to create awareness that the Electoral Area is made up of both Nintin and Hwidiem but not only one of them.
This is why I am extremely happy that, what I yearned for and pleaded with some traditional leaders in the course of my campaign, the two towns are equitably represented in the Unit Committee, unlike in previous elections, and I hope to ride on this to pursue my development aspirations for the two communities.
As I have come across during my campaign activities in churches and homes, all five other Aspirants are qualified and have good intentions to lead as Assembly Members for the Nintin Electoral Area.
However, in this particular time and situation, residents of Nintin and Hwidiem need to elect someone who has the connections and opportunity to mobilise resources from outside the cash-strapped Mampong Municipal Assembly towards addressing the myriad of socio-economic challenges of Nintin and Hwidiem.
And that is why I have offered myself at this particular time to help.
I pledge to serve the electorate with ‘Humility, Respect, Commitment, Selflessness and assurance of Hard Work’
I am Nicholas Osei-Wusu, No. 3, on the ballot.
Vote Nicholas Osei-Wusu, Vote No. 3
