Akim Oda, Nov. 25, GNA - The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has organized a debate for aspiring parliamentary candidates in the Akim Oda Constituency to offer them a platform to present their programmes to the electorate. Three candidates, Mr Yaw Owusu-Boateng of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Nuako Agyemang of the Democrative Freedom Party (DFP), and Mr Isaac Osafo-Kantanka of the Convention People's Party (CPP), took part in the lively debate.

Mr Kojo Attah-Krah, a candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was absent at the forum. Mr Owusu-Boateng said his main focus, when elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, would be to improve on education and health and create job to give employment to the people, especially the youth.

He said he would also ensure that people got access to credit facilities, especially from the MASLOC to be able to expand their businesses.

Mr Owusu-Boateng said he would initiate forestation project and also recycle waste to generate electricity. He appealed to the electorate to give him the mandate to see more improvement in the area.

Mr Agyemang on the other hand said education and agriculture development would be his priority. He said he would ensure that teachers were well- accommodated with the provision of teachers' bungalows in the communities. On agriculture, Mr Agyemang said he would solicit support from Non Governmental Organizations to give loans to farmers.

Mr Osafo-Kantanka mentioned education, health, sanitation, job creation and sports development as his priority. He said when given the nod he would ensure that all communities in the area were provided with good school buildings and adequate furniture.

Mr Osafo-Kantanka said children who excelled academically would be given incentives periodically to motivate them to study harder. He said teachers would also be given incentives as a morale booster.

He said he would ensure that Parent-Teacher Associations monitored the performance of teachers to help raise the standard of education. Mr Osafo-Kantanka said he would acquire a land where the youth would engage in agriculture.

All the candidates answered questions on what they would do to put "smiles" on the faces of physically challenged persons in the constituency, how to prevent conflicts among District Chief Executives (DCEs) and the MPs and what to do to educate the public to desist from putting financial pressures on MPs. Mr Harrison Belley, Programme Officer of the CDD-Ghana, in a welcoming address, said the overall objective of the debate was to help the electorate to make informed choices through the interaction. He said it would also help the candidates to focus their campaign on issues relevant to the developmental needs of the constituencies they sought to represent in Parliament. 25 Nov. 08