By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Majority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu Constituency in the Central Region, Mr. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has called on the media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to chart a new path for Ghana’s political discourse both on and off air.
According to the Majority Leader, the current situation where politicians appear on television and radio programs to throw tantrums and do vile propaganda is not helping the development of the country.
“Our journalists should be able to draw attention to politicians and political pundits who appear on their shows to stake to issues facts and figures when they digress,” he noted.
“Pinch us to issues, that focus on national development. Yes, we are doing partisan politics, but politics is one thing and national development is another thing, but the latter is what is need to generate discussion at all times,” the Majority leader added.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin made this call during the distribution of laptops to some teachers within the Effutu municipality as part of his one-teacher, one-laptop initiative.
The Majority leader commended highly some CSOs like the Fourth Estate, and individuals, like organizers of the #dumsormuststopvigil led by actress Yvonne Nelson, for keeping the government on its toes over issues of national importance.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin was of the opinion that the currently held #dumsormuststopvigil organised by actress Yvonne Nelson, should serve as a wake-up call to the Energy Minister, Mr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, to address the erratic power supply.
“Even though we’re solving the problem in the energy sector, the #dumsormuststopvigil alone will be a wake-up call to pinch the minister of energy, that hey, let me solve it and get it done completely. After all, that’s why the people voted for us,” he said.
“Ghana, we have made it, as a member of ECOWAS Parliament, if I look at the developments in the sub-region, even power, Nigeria, I’m just coming from Abuja, almost every household has a Gen set. You go to Benin, Togo, La Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Conakry, Equitorial Guinea, Cape Verde. They don’t have reliable power, we do, but even so, it’s not enough.
So, we should continue to drum home the issue. Our sister, Yvonne Nelson, did some demonstration. Even though we’re solving the problem in the energy sector, that alone will be a wake-up call to pinch the minister of energy, that hey, let me solve it and get it done completely. After all, that’s why the people voted for us,” he said.
