-Independent Aspirant Tells Minority Leader

Osei Bempa Hayford, an independent parliamentary aspirant of the Suame Constituency is up in arms against the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, who is also Minority Leader in Parliament, Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, advising him to decline contesting the seat yet again in the 2012 general elections to save him from losing the long held seat of the NPP.

He said by the end of his current term, the Suame constituents would have given Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu the chance to represent them in parliament for 12 long years however, the MP instead of acting to better their lot, has rather trampled upon their trust, hence their call for a change.

According to him, Hon Kyei Mensah Bonsu has gained the necessary exposure and experience that to his advantage should position him very well to deliver on his mandate to his constituency. He lamented that all these years that he has spent in Parliament as the representative of the constituents of Suame has brought no improvement to the area.
The independent parliamentary aspirant disclosed this to The Catalyst in an exclusive interview. He said over the years, the MP has had it easy because he has never faced any tough competition the elections. This, he believed caused the MP to become complacent and think that the people are being convinced by his performance to keep retaining him in Parliament.
He said Kyei Mensah Bonsu is always noted as saying MPs are not the agents of development but lobbyists for developmental projects but could not understand why he should attribute certain projects to himself when speaking on various airwaves in Kumasi.
Osei Bempa Hayford emphasized that, he is contesting Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu on his own wish and is also inspired by calls from the people for a capable leader for the Suame constituency. He refuted claims that he is being used as a ploy by the NDC to snatch the seat from the NPP.
The independent candidate made known that he will not change his decision of contesting for the Suame Parliamentary seat unless Hon Kyei Mensah Bonsu is able to satisfy the needs of the people in the constituency in the areas of education, road construction and employment creation.
Osei Bempa Hayford, who is a businessman cum student, expressed worry at why some MPs are employing positive developmental agendas in transforming their constituencies and yet for twelve years under the leadership of Hon Kyei Mensah Bonsu, Suame is yet to see any sign of innovative strategies and ideas from him for implementation to benefit the people.
“If I have done nothing at all, my continuous deprecating message on the MP has in one way or the other yielded results as the minority leader has returned to constructing some deplorable roads in the area. This alone makes me different as I have the ideas, knowledge and the people at heart and will act accordingly to addressing the needs of the people,” he pointed out.