“In the end, we will not remember so much the actions of bad people but the deafening silence of good people”

Martin Luther King Jr. What happened in the early hours of Agona Swedru today is not part of what our forebears struggled for when they were accepting democratic rule.

Rather shamefully, it is becoming the order of the day for the NPP government to use the Police to brutalize and oppress citizens whenever they are engaging on a legal demonstration or protest in any part of the country.

It is within the civil and constitutional rights of citizens of this country to register their displeasure or discontent with (in)actions of any government of the day when they so wish.

I vehemently condemn the actions of the Police -- shooting at protestors (innocent unarmed drivers), I believe, is not part of the 'Service With Integrity'. I would like to take this opportunity to empathize with all who were hit by rubber bullets fired by the men of service who were supposed to protect and guide them. It is very sad that we are here under the rule of a so-called human rights activist.

It is public knowledge that major and town roads in the Agona West Municipality were given out to contractors and some even started work before the NDC lost in the 2016 general elections.

The NPP government halted all these contracts after they assumed power in 2017. The minister of finance has for the past budget readings acknowledged the roads in Agona West but nothing has been done on the grounds.

I believe the people have critically analyzed the chronicles of events leading to the current deplorable and unmotorable state of the roads within the Agona West Municipality hence their protest today.

The people, rightly so, are tired of wasting precious productive hours on the roads, spending more on vehicle maintenance, not being able to transport their farm produce, losing sick relatives, unborn babies and pregnant women, and the irony is that we have a Member of Parliament who is the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection who doesn’t seem to care about the plight of the very people who voted for her.

Again, on behalf of the NDC, I sympathize with all affected persons, I identify with them and will like to entreat them to look forward to a better option -- the option that is people-oriented and cares about them. An NDC-led government is the best for them and a tolerant one for that matter. I will make myself available to meet with all Concern Drivers Unions so we can put their needs to paper and present to the Manifesto Committee of the NDC for inclusion in the final manifesto of the party.

In the meantime, let us all remain calm but never perturbed to speak truth to power!

God bless our homeland Ghana, And may He help us with the strength to resist oppressors' rule!

Thank You.

Comrade Paul Ofori-Amoah

NDC Parliamentary Candidate,

Agona West Constituency