Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa
After weeks of strong opposition to his nomination as Volta Regional Minister-designate, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa has finally broken his silence by assuring all and sundry of his willingness to diligently work with all stakeholders in developing the region.
According to him, it is not lost on him that he has to work with those who support him and even those who oppose him to unite and move the region forward. He stressed that “we need to work together as people of this Region in ensuring its development as envisaged by the President and all of us.”
To this end, he shall continue to invest in building “bridges and not walls while pursuing the development of the Region.”
Dr. Letsa gave this assurance in a Facebook post at the beginning of February 2021, weeks after a groundswell of opposition from party members and residents of the region started building up.
The opposition reached its peak after President Akufo-Addo announced on January 21, 2021, that he has re-nominated him as the Regional Minister-designate.
Few days prior to the announcement, a pro-NPP group; Volta NPP Grassroots for Justice expressed displeasure over re-nomination of Dr. Letsa, adding that they had had enough of him, hence should the President go ahead to reappoint him (Dr. Letsa), they will undertake a series of protests and demonstrations to register their displeasure.
Right after the announcement, another group; Concerned NPP Group in the Volta Region described the nomination as apt because the leadership of Dr Archibald Letsa is one that is accommodative, tactful and peaceful.
The Municipal and District Chiefs Executives (MDCEs) who served in the first term of the governing NPP government with Dr. Letsa also declared their support for his nomination.
That did not stop a mammoth demonstration in the Volta Regional capital which attracted over a thousand party members and residents including constituency and branch executives.
The support for or against the nomination of Dr. Letsa has since been ongoing; dominating social media and radio discussion in the region.
In what had been described as a good gesture, by the Regional Minister-designate, Dr. Archibald Letsa broke his silence on the foregoing about a week after the protest expressing his willingness to work together with all parties and build bridges not walls to advance the development agenda of the Volta Region and the President, should he be approved by parliament.
The astute entrepreneur and medical practitioner who thanked the President for the confidence reposed in him also promised to continue to operate an “open-door policy” and assured investors of his preparedness to work with them to transform the region.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)