An aspirant for the position of the Nasara Coordinator of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Maiga, has bemoaned the lack of support and assistance from the Zongo communities by the party.
According to him, the current as well as past NPP governments had initiated several social intervention programmes that would benefit the Zongo communities yet the results obtained from the areas after elections kept dwindling.
Mr Maiga expressed the concern at a press conference organised by his campaign team in Accra on Tuesday where he officially declared his intension to contest for the position.
He attributed the loss of support and assistance for the NPP by the Zongo communities to the implementation of the Alien Compliance Order under the then Busia-led administration where foreigners of whom many were living in the Zongo communities were asked to leave the country.
Mr Maiga urged the leadership of the NPP to consider rending an apology to the chiefs and people of Zongo communities at a grand durbar over the implementation of the Alien Compliance Order as it would help bring about total healing which had brought about hatred between them.
“One cannot help but ask. What at all do the people of the Zongos want the NPP to do for them in order to gain their support and assistance once again? This question is most relevant, particularly because by convention, the NPP has institutionalised the idea to ensure that the party presents a Christian-Muslim presidential ticket at the polls.
“In view of this, I urge the leadership of the party to consider the option of rendering an apology to the chiefs and people of Zongos for the excesses in implementation of the Alien Compliance Order at a grand durbar.
“The Zongo communities are fast becoming cosmopolitan areas, there is the need for the party to pay attention and elect people who are dynamic, understand development and their implications on the electoral fortunes of the party in future elections,” Mr Maiga pointed out.
He indicated that it was about time political parties took serious interest in the welfare of their members by establishing a business development desk at all regional branches to provide business skills training, entrepreneurship development and financial support to empower the grassroots.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
