400 NPP ACTIVISTS IN BEREKUM QUIT

Berekum, B/A -- Over 400 youth of the NPP party in the Berekum Constituency have announced their resignation from the party accusing their MP Captain (Rtd) Efah Dartey, of woefully failing to honor his campaign promises. According to the youth during the 2004 campaign Captain Efah Dartey promised to help put up permanent structures for the second hand cloth dealers but has renegade on his promise.

Announcing their resignation at a press conference held at Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region on last Thursday the Youth expressed grave concern about the neglect of their plight by the MP.

However, the aggrieved youth who are mostly second hand clothes sellers did state whether they would be joining any opposition political party now but said the decision to join another party will be informed from the reaction of the leadership of the NPP in the months to come.

They claimed that NPP seem to have nothing to offer them if they remain in the party.

According to the aggrieved youth even though the decision to part ways with the party was a painful, they have no option since all efforts to get the MP to fulfill his promise has prove futile. ?The situation has compelled us to quit the party because both the MP and the DCE had failed to honour their promises they made to us and also listen to us,? they said.

According to the youth they during the elections MP promised that if they vote for him to retain his seat he would help them to access the poverty alleviation funds to the turn of at least five (5) million but soon after he won power he told them that second hand sellers could not benefit or access the funds because the money was not meant for them.

Mr. Adu Frimpong, the Chairman of the Association said prior to the last elections, Hon Captain (Rtd.) Nkrabea Effah Dartey gave them assurance that he would help them erect permanent structures at the old market to help them carry out their business as ??second hand sellers?? but no attempt has been made towards the promise.

The Chairman stated that, after they have rally behind him to win the elections Captain Effah Dartey who is also the deputy minister of the Interior has abandoned them to the extend that they have no place to carry out their normal business activities.

Throwing more light on the poverty alleviation fund, he explained that in spite of the promise by the MP none of his association members have received a pesewa which they said, to them, amount to deception.

He said that the DCE for the area Mr. Thomas Kyere Yeboah summoned them to his residence to discuss how best he [DCE] could assist them with part of the poverty alleviation fund, but the meetings turned out to be to be stories upon stories.

Adu Frimpong recounted how they seriously campaigned for the party in the 2004 elections with the hope that things would go well for them only to be sidelined in the mainstream.

?Haven worked so hard for the party only to be told that the ?? poverty alleviation funds are not meant for second hand cloths sellers but for maize sellers ?? and that we could only benefit when we go into maize farming is a stab in the back and unacceptable,? he said.

He stressed that, even the land earmarked for the second hand cloth dealers has been sold by the Assembly. He said when they contacted the DCE over the issue nothing good came out.

Investigations by this reporter revealed that, some plots of land which belongs to the youth of the Association had been sold to ?chop Bar? operators. On his part, Mr Qwansa Issac, one of the organizers of the Association said that anytime they send their problems to the Assembly for redress nobody want to attend to them.

The chairman however appealed to the government to come to their aid since they had fought for the party all these years.