Bernice Heloo
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe in the Volta Region, Bernice Heloo was conspicuously missing during a debate held for parliamentary candidates in the constituency.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP has however failed to give any explanation.
The open debate was organised by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in collaboration with the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) for the four candidates vying for the parliamentary seat to outline their policies and programmes.
The Civil Society Organization (CSO) organized the debate to help all the parliamentary candidates nationwide to focus on pertinent issues affecting the lives of constituents across the country.
The debate was supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
Each of the candidates had three minutes to respond to questions from the electorate on health, education, women and children, employment, corruption, oil and gas, among others.
The parliamentary candidates- Marlon Anipah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ameckson Frank Selase of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and Justine Kumordzi of the National Democratic Party (NDP) took part in the debate.
Persons with disability, traditional leaders and other groups attended the event.
Interestingly, all the three candidates called for a change in government to ensure effective management of the country’s economy.
They also agreed that the allowances of teacher trainees must be restored to enhance the health sector.
Regina Manfo-Tetteh, Programmes Coordinator of CDD-Ghana, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, disclosed that the debate would focus on persons with disabilities because they are mostly neglected during elections.
She said the debate gave the electorate the opportunity to interact with the parliamentary candidates and express their grievances.
She expressed the hope that the submissions of the candidates would help the constituents to make informed decisions on election day.
Mrs. Manfo-Tetteh commended the candidates for participating in the debate and encouraged them to fulfill their promises if given the nod.
From Gibril Abdul Razak, Hohoe