Politics of Saturday, 6 April 2024

Source: Rashid Ibrahim

Re: Alleged assault on Nkoranza South NPP parliamentary candidate

Harriet Kyeremanteng Oppong, Parliamentary Candidate for Nkoranza South Harriet Kyeremanteng Oppong, Parliamentary Candidate for Nkoranza South

I have cited a news item on GhanaWeb and Peacefmonline.com stating that the Nkoranza South parliamentary candidate of the NPP, Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng, was assaulted by some NDC members.

I wish to state without provocation that the news item is misleading, untrue, and a figment of the writer’s imagination intended to garner public sympathy for the NPP parliamentary candidate, who is already underperforming and appears as confused as her flagbearer.

Additionally, she seems to have turned into an agent who takes credit for projects initiated by the MP. The fact of the incident on the eve of March 29, 2024, at Nsunensa is detailed as follows:

On Friday, March 29, 2024, Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng and her campaign team went to Nsunensa to campaign for some community members. During this visit, she directed her team to invade a construction site to procure materials for demonstration to the community without the contractor’s consent.

This led to a confrontation when the site workers resisted the forceful removal of materials, culminating in a tense verbal altercation. Amidst this, a person believed to be Mrs. Kyeremanteng’s bodyguard brandished a firearm, threatening the workers for obstructing their actions. This prompted community members to intervene in support of the contractor.

This incident marks the beginning of a narrative that has been distorted to elicit sympathy for Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng. In any serious country, Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng and her team would have been standing trial by now for the offence of attempted stealing, but for bad governance that has corroded our institutions, who would dare to make such a bold attempt?

Moreover, Mrs. Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng, as a female parliamentary candidate, should learn political manners from respected figures like Theresa Nyarko Fofie, who was once a female MP for Nkoranza South, and burry her ego and her Rambo-styled attitude.

The Nkoranza South NPP is widely known for threatening people with guns, as this has happened on several occasions, from the former MP to the current parliamentary candidate.

Her leadership style has previously led to significant political ramifications, including the sacking of the former MCE, Daniel Owiredu, whom she believed to have relations with the MP and could be a threat to her victory as the next MP for Nkoranza South.

Just yesterday, this same Mrs. Harriet Kyeremanteng Oppong conveyed NPP executives to a construction site during the Road Minister's visit to the constituency and reported the contractor on-site to the Minister simply because the contractor is a friend of the MP. The harsh words and threats directed at the contractor instilled a sense of fear in him, leading to his decision to remove his equipment and abandon the project site. A loss to Nkoranzaman due to her recklessness.

In conclusion, Mrs. Harriet Oppong Kyeremanteng should desist from spreading misleading narratives for personal sympathy and instead focus on genuine development efforts to uplift Nkoranza, just as the MP, Hon. Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, is doing.