The Volta Regional Directorate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged parliamentary aspirants, who were unsuccessful in the just ended primaries of the party to take advantage of the impending District Level Elections to serve their people.
The primaries deepened the democratic credentials of the party and that losing a parliamentary primary should not be the end of the road for those who lost, and that they could play meaningful roles in the local assemblies.
The constituencies cannot push all their quality human resources in the basket of parliament to the disadvantage of the assemblies and encouraged them to shift focus to the local assembly level.
James Gunu, the Volta Regional Secretary of the NDC, said all contestants signed a declaration prior to their vetting to support whoever was elected the party’s parliamentary candidate for the 2020 general election and charged both winners and losers to forge ahead as one body for the district level elections and the general election in 2020.
“As Assembly members you should be given appreciable remuneration, assistance and support to make the position attractive since many qualified individuals will have loved to serve in the local assembly but they are not ready because apart from being called honourable, they do not get anything,” he bemoaned.
Mr Gunu, a former District Chief Executive for Akatsi North, was hopeful the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and assembly members on partisan basis would give impetus to the local governance system and the political dispensation.
The parliamentary primaries in the Volta Region saw four new entrants in constituencies where incumbent Members of Parliament decided not to contest, with all incumbent MPs contesting retained.
The new entrants are Professor Margaret Kwaku, Hohoe, Richard Safe, Anlo, Dzifa Gomashie, Ketu South and Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, Keta constituencies. -GNA
