Axim (W/R), Nov. 27, GNA - Three aspiring members of Parliament for the Evalue-Gwira constituency have pledged to complete all uncompleted projects embarked on by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) to reverse the dwindling fortunes of the constituency, when elected in December this year.

Additionally they all pledged to conduct clean campaigns, educate their supporters to avoid acts of hooliganism, intimidation and the disruption of each others programmes and activities, while they the leaders will also guard their utterances in both private and public. They are Mrs Catherine A. Affeku, for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Peter Arde-Kodwo, for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Mr Kojo Armah for the Convention People's Party (CPP). They were speaking at a debate organized by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in collaboration with the Ghana Society for the Physically Challenged at Axim for the aspirants on Tuesday. It was on the theme, "Promoting Issue -Based Campaign". Mrs Catherine Affeku, a mother of three and an MBA graduate, told the audience that her vision for the constituency were focused at expanding the establishment of the Philomena Yalley scholarship scheme, which she established in 2006, to cover many more students in the area. She noted that the low academic performance of the district could be reverse through the establishment of a skills training centre to prepare the youth for the labour market.

Mrs Affeku said "Many of our youths could not further their education either due to the lack of opportunities or the lack of role models to challenge them to aspire for the ultimate". Mrs Affeku, who is also the government spokesman on infrastructure, said she would through discussions with the district assembly expand the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) module on tourism to create more employment opportunities for the people in the area. "Our constituency is endowed with several tourism opportunities and potentials and we must work around it to improve our lot," she stressed. Mrs Affeku noted that the school feeding programe was vital for the total development of the child and said that the concept would be expanded to cover many more children in the constituency. She hinted that the formation of a district chamber of commerce through the appropriate legislation would greatly channel resources into the constituency for the good of society.

Speaking on persons with disability (PWD), Mrs Affeku pledged to work closely with the assembly if elected to release the two and half percent of the assembly's funds for PWDs. She said to promote food sufficiency in the country; there was the need to construct modern silos for the storage of food and cash crops to safeguard the efforts of the peasant farmer. Mr Peter Arde-Kodwo, a lecturer at the University of Education Winneba, said the poor academic performances recorded in the constituency were as a result of lack of interest by many parents in the activities of the children and wards. He said parents must adopt a positive attitude towards their ward's education while teachers who are the key to educational success must be motivated to give-off their best in their chosen career.

Mr Arde-Kodwo said many public schools unlike their private counterparts, lacked supervision and therefore usually produced poor grades at the Basic Entrance Certificate Examinations. Addressing persons with disability, he said disability should not prevent people from exhibiting their talents and skills for the development of their respective communities. He said series of education must be undertaken to remove stigma associated with the disability to make them acceptable in the society. Mr Arde-Kodwo pledged to assist PWDs in their projects and programmes and called on the society as a whole to adopt a new attitude towards PWDs. He stressed that peace was a vital asset that any nation must strive for and therefore urged the Electoral Commission (EC), the various security agencies, teachers and ministers of the gospel to play their respective roles to promote it.

Mr Arde-Kodwo said the utterances and other hostile attitudes of political opponents must be replaced with fellows feeling, trust and a national sense of brotherliness. He said a major challenge that had made individuals reluctant to give out loans was the default rate among such beneficiaries. "We cannot continue to refuse to repay loans and other financial assistance that individuals give to use in our times of need," he stressed. He said the inability of some individuals and Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) to expand could be attributed to such acts and urged residents in the area to make loan re-payment their priority. Mr Kojo Armah, the incumbent MP and a former diplomat pledged to support individuals who enrolled under the non-formal education programme in the constituency to create opportunities for the youth who were engaged in fishing.

He said though he had assisted in several educational projects, there were still some opportunities that could be exploited to enhance the educational potentials of the people in the area. Mr Armah said when elected, he would create additional market outlets with the assistance of the assembly to reduce post harvest loses and there was also the need for cold storage facilities to keep fish excesses for the lean season. The Reverend Father Paul Awuah, Minister in charge of the Saint Anthony Catholic Church, who hosted the programme, had a hectic time controlling the crowd. He told the audience that the aspirants were there to share their vision and this was a good sign for the country's democratic process. Rev. Awuah said the divergent views expressed by the participants must not create confusion, arguments or fights, but should rather unite them as a people. "These three aspirants seek our mandate to lead us to development and we will not achieve anything if we fight, create confusion and trouble in our town". The cheered all the three aspirants on and the entire venue was filled to capacity. 27 Nov. 08