Renowned legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the sudden commencement of developmental projects in the Assin North Constituency.
According to Martin Kpebu, it is clear that the only reason why the government is speeding up projects in the constituency is to influence the upcoming parliamentary by-elections.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on June 24, 2023, the lawyer said that the happenings in Assin North would never occur in any democracy because in proper democracies, development is planned and the government does not suddenly pump monies into areas because of a by-election.
He added that it is sad that the government is not able to pay pensioners and other bondholders who are in dire need of money but it is able to raise funds for the construction of projects in Assin North just because of elections.
“This (the projects in Assin North) is obviously to buy votes. This is not a democracy; this is just a dictatorship. Because if it was a democracy, you would not be able to take such monies and go and complete such projects ahead of time when you owe citizens… you are starving citizens to go and construct roads for other citizens.
“That is not how development is done. This is just a dictatorship, President Akufo-Addo doesn’t know anything about governance. He just rode on slogans and today, you see how the whole system is just exposing him,” he said.
The lawyer also said that political parties must learn to engage in issue-based politics for the good of Ghana and stop buying votes in order to win elections.
He added that politicians always promise to stop the menace of corruption when they come to power but they engage in vote buying which is the genesis of the menace in the country.
Background:
The Supreme Court of Ghana, on May 17, 2023, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP)
Justice Jones Victor Dotse, Justice Nene Amegatcher, Justice Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo, Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Justice Yonny Kulendi, and Justice Barbara Ackah-Yensu declared that Quayson was not qualified at the time he contested the election 2020 in the Michael Ankomah Nimfah vs James Gyakye Quayson case.
According to the court, the ousted Assin North MP failed to prove that he had renounced his Canadian citizenship when he filed his nomination to contest the 2020 general elections.
Parliament subsequently declared the Assin North seat vacant, leading to the Electoral Commission of Ghana announcing a by-election on May 27, 2023, to fill the seat.
