POLITICIANS REMINDED OF MANDATE TO CONSTITUENTS (PAGE 13)

Politicians have been urged not to wait until it is time to renew their mandate before they visit their constituents with their sweet promises.
The Chief of Bodi in the Juaboso District of the Western Region, Nana Kwame Nkrumah I, said politicians entered into social contracts with the people but abandoned them only to return to them when they wanted them to renew their mandate.
The chief made the observation when the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, called on him at his palace to address a mini-durbar held in his honour at Bodi.
The chief said in spite of the fact that a very significant part of the country’s resources was derived from the Western Region, the people of the region had suffered for far too long and would no longer take excuses.
“Here at Bodi, we do not even have a clinic; we have to trek to the next town to enable us to access medical care and that is not good enough,” he said.
Nana Nkrumah said even though it was not possible to see the whole country transformed in a day or two, “it is important that when politicians entered into an agreement with the people and things are not working well, they come back and negotiate or reassure them”.
“When the politicians win and remain in the national capital, it makes the people see themselves as a tool for use by the politicians to get power and after that they will have to wait for the next four years. This is not good for the development of the society,” he said.
He called on the Mills Administration to ensure that the promises to the people were fulfilled and that when it became difficult for the government the people should at least know that the politicians had them in mind.
The chief also urged politicians to place the interest of the people first to ensure that the scarce resources of the country were used for their well-being.
For his part, Mr Gidisu said the government would respond promptly to any situation that would create a better environment for the people of Ghana.
“My visit to the region is to really see what the people go through everyday. We will do our best to ensure that the living standards of the people improve,” he said.
He said the region had contributed a lot to the development of the country and the government would ensure that development did not elude the region this time.
The minister said his tour of the region as the Minister of Roads and Highways had given him the firsthand information about the plight of the people the region.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that the situation improves; we will monitor and uphold transparency and accountability to ensure that region had its roads properly positioned,” he said.