DCE Kwasi Bonzoh (left) addressing the media
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle in the Western Region, Kwasi Bonzoh, has chastised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentarian for the area, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, for allegedly engaging in what he (DCE) termed as ‘cheap politics’.
According to Mr. Bonzoh, a brief misunderstanding between himself and the MP recently over the road project at Awiebo in the area was recorded and the video shared on social media.
“Surprisingly, those who recorded the video and released it on social media captioned it that the MP was trying to fix the deplorable Awiebo town roads but the DCE came in to stop the work. This is a blatant lie”, the DCE stressed.
The DCE explained that the road project in question was part of about 272 kilometer road under construction by the government in the Ellembelle district which are being executed by five contractors.
He said the 7 km Awiebo town roads are being constructed by Memphis Metropolitan Limited and being funded by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
He mentioned that the contractor started with the construction of culverts and drainage systems but at a point the construction works were halted. Later the contractor raised certificate which was being processed by GNPC for payment.
“But because of the incessant rainfall in the area, the roads were rendered unmotorable. So I called the contractor myself and explained to him that he was obliged to maintain the roads to make them passable until he finally completes them”.
The DCE told journalists that last Tuesday, he had a call from the Awiebo community that the MP had caused an announcement to be made at a local information center that he was going to reshape the Awiebo town roads.
“Immediately, I realized that there was something wrong because I did not understand why the MP should decide to take such initiative when the road had already been awarded on contract and work has started”, he added.
The DCE said he later called the contractor to find out whether the contract had been terminated but the contractor said it had not been abrogated.
“So last Tuesday, I decided to visit the site to inspect the road, then I had a call from the MP who started insulting me for no apparent reasons. When I got to the site the MP also came there with his men”.
“He started shouting at me, ‘you are sick! Your are sick’!! You sit here for me to come from Accra to give the contractor money for fuel before he could construct the road”.
“I also told him that he knew the road had been awarded on contract so why should he tell the people that he was going to construct it, just to score cheap political points. While the confrontation was ongoing, someone was videoing”.
MP Reacts
The MP, who is also the deputy minority leader, admitted that he was aware the road was on contract but said the contractor had stopped work. He noted that the road was in a terrible state, hence the need for the reshaping.
He said he had a call from the Presiding Member of the assembly who told him that the DCE was going to the site to stop the work.
“So I called the DCE and he told me he was on his way to the site, so I also went there. When I got there I saw the DCE and asked him whether he had seen how terrible the road had become.
“Awiebo is where the DCE’s father comes from and the people there are celebrating their Kundum festival so the DCE realized that it would be a disgrace to him if he allows me to do the reshaping,” Mr. Armah Buah asserted.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Nkroful