Nicholas Osei-Wusu
An award-winning journalist and GBC Ashanti Regional correspondent, Nicholas Osei-Wusu, has declared his intention to contest for the Nintin electoral area in the Mampong Municipality in the December 19 district level elections.
In a statement to the electorate, Mr. Osei-Wusu promised to use his media clout to promote the Nintin Electoral Area, which includes Nintin and Hwidiem, as the destination of choice in Ghana for organic bananas, similar to how Akomadan is associated with tomatoes.
According to him, Nintin, in particular, is the gateway to the municipality and is located immediately after the famous Mampong Scarp from the Kumasi direction.
He noted that residents of the two communities are primarily subsistence farmers, and their major source of income is petty trading and hawking along the main Kumasi-Mampong highway, which is dominated by bananas.
“This is the economic mainstay of the inhabitants, particularly women, whose main target market is commuters and motorists who patronise the bananas during stopovers.
“This gives the two communities an opportunity to create wealth and economic empowerment for the women to improve household incomes,” he said.
“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,” he indicated.
Mr. Osei-Wusu, who is also an Editor-in-Chief at GBC, stated that if this deliberate plan succeeds, women in particular who trade in this commodity will enjoy exponential patronage from people all across the country, allowing them to raise their sales and revenue.
Another issue that he is concerned about is Nintin and Hwidiem’s insufficient potable water supply.
“Residents of these two towns currently buy water from Bosofour close to Mampong, the municipal capital, at very high cost, transportation inclusive,” he pointed out.
Despite years of borehole water testing, he said that this exploration has been fruitless due to the low water table, despite the fact that the two towns are rocky and hilly.
He noted that in Nintin, practically all of the springs from which the residents drew water for domestic and other purposes had become useless due to a variety of factors, including drying up.
According to the aspiring Assemblyman, the unpredictable water supply situation has an adverse effect on economic activities, school attendance in the two communities, and water-borne diseases in the area.
“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,” he intimated.
He also stated that he had identified poor sanitation as an important issue in Nintin, where open defecation is a frequent practice due to a lack of any decent option, despite the obvious health and hygiene effects.
“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 condition in the two towns,” he appealed.
By Ernest Kofi Adu