The Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta-North Constituency of the Oti Region, Mr Oti Kwabena Bless, has called on political leaders at the municipal and district levels, to put aside partisan politics, and coordinate their activities to bridge the development gap between urban and the rural areas of the country.
Mr Oti said partisan politics had negatively affected development at the municipal and district levels, particularly when the municipal and district chief executives (MDCEs) belonged to the governing political party, and the MP also belonged to a minority party, saying the time had come for such partisan practices to stop.
The MP in an interview on Monday at Nkwanta, the capital of the Nkwanta-South Municipality, explained that when such partisan activities took place, it only benefited the interest of the parties involved to the disadvantage of the electorates who entrusted the mandate in the hands of political leaders.
Mr Oti therefore, called for effective collaboration between MDCEs and MPs to ensure that the needed development was brought to the people because politics was basically about helping to improve on the living standard, stressing that the leaders could not afford to disappoint the people.
He said the MPs and the MDCEs belonging to either the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) should not in any way affect the development of the people because the leaders of the various political parties had various roles to play in developing their respective areas.
According to the MP, party politics must be regarded as an effective tool that engender unity and development, but not to create division that could lead to underdevelopment, and urged the people to support their leaders to enable them to benefit from relevant development projects to enhance their standard of living.
Mr Oti said his belief to bridge the development gap between the rich and the poor had motivated him over the years to serve the people better without discrimination, which made him to prioritise the development needs of the people in the area.
He observed that before he took over leadership and in the third term as the MP of the area, there were only four communities connected to electricity, namely Sibi, Damanko, Kpassa and Ebitia, but with his determination, 19 more communities were also hooked to electricity.
The MP, however, urged the people to support their leaders to bring development to them and to commend them when they delivered on their mandate because recognition of their work would inspire them to do more.
He pointed out that partisan politics had eaten deep into the people so much that the culture of appreciation was no longer valued.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, NKWANTA
