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Ghana: Effutu NPP Parliamentary Primary
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Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Bismark Bebli
THE EFFUTU New Patriotic Party (NPP) 'Godfather', and former national chairman of the NPP, Mr. Harona Esseku has anointed Mr. Alex Afenyo Markin, as the parliamentary candidate for the party towards the 2008 general elections.
According to the seasoned septuagenarian Politician, the delegates of the NPP would have failed if they refused to vote for Markin, who is currently the Presiding Member of Awutu-Effutu Senya District Assembly to lead the constituency.
"If you delegates fail to elect Markin as the candidate for the NPP, you would have failed a whole generation," he was reported to have declared.
Mr. Esseku, who was said to have recounted how he was misinformed about the aspirant in the 2004 primaries, which caused him to stop the youthful but enterprising business tycoon from contesting, made this observation at the a meeting with the polling station chairmen at the residence of Mr. Albert Korsah, the chairman of the Central Regional Council of Elders of the NPP.
According to our information, the former chairman stated that though he was misinformed about Mr. Markin, he has no regret over his, but was of the view that Mr. Markin has now matured both politically and socially to lead the constituency to retain the seat for the NPP, stressing that his decision then was based on principle in the supreme interest of the NPP.
To him, after a few years of his action by preventing the aspirant, his personal investigations revealed that the PM, was a hardworking person and forthright in all his dealings which proved that the time was ripe for him to take over the mantle.
Mr. Esseku, according to our information narrated to the gathering how he, together with party gurus met at the Castle to introduce Hon. Samuel Owusu-Agyei, the incumbent MP as a compromised candidate and a decision that after a term's stay of parliament, the MP should give way to the new entrants especially Mr. Markin.
According to him, it was important that the executives of the party kept faith in the early decisions of the party, to help ensure that a level playing field is maintained. "Markin has proved himself politically by contesting the PM position, contested the Assembly position at Kojo Boadu's South Electoral Area and won. He has introduced a new leadership to Winneba, brought transformation and new developments right from the grass roots," he said.
Mr. Esseku further said that it would be less difficult for the NPP to retain the seat and help unite various factions if Markin was given the mandate, simply because the PM has achieved a lot as a business entrepreneur and many others.
Mr. Alex Afenyo Markin, who was adjudged the youngest and most successful entrepreneur in West Africa, by Alba Excellence in Enterprise Award recently, told this paper that he was humbled by the comments of the party's 'Godfather' in the constituency.
According to him, when given the opportunity to lead the constituency as its legislator, he would place education and job creation on his agenda. "My vision is to set up an educational endowment fund in every electoral area in my constituency to support brilliant but needy students. I will make sure to project Winneba and make it a business attraction centre so that we can produce a lot of businessmen."
According to him, as the PM for the district, he has initiated a lot of projects with funds from their own resources, citing refurbishment of Winneba police cells, construction of mother's hostel at the Children's Ward of Winneba government hospital, construction of shelter facilities at the Winneba mortuary, provision of street lights, just to mention a few.
Mr. Afenyo Markin, a student lawyer, said he has actually set up micro-credit schemes to support businesses of petty traders, provided scholarship facilities which benefited a lot of people especially the brilliant but needy in his constituency.
To him, if given the opportunity he would do better to raise the status of Winneba to another pedestal because of his business acumen.
On his roots in the party, he said, 'I am a true blue party man. I have kept faith in the party and I have been nursing this ambition since 2003 and I believe that I am the best person to introduce new levels of development in the area.
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Meanwhile, Mr. Esseku had confirmed that he was at the meeting and shared few thoughts about Mr. Markin. According to him, the meeting was in-house discussion and he was shocked that the discourse among them came into the public domain. 'I was invited at the meeting but I did not endorse Mr. Markin, but if anybody wants to say that because I was invited at the meeting means I endorsed the aspirants, then that is the person's view.'
He also took turns to explain to this reporter how he managed to sideline Mr. Markin in the last elections and brought Mr. Agyei to contest in less than 24 hours.
'I brought Mr. Owusu-Agyei in. I hope you know that, so he is not my enemy. When he invites me for any function, I will go except that he has not invited me," he said.
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