Politics

NABDAM: NDC MP prevented from handing over Police Station he constructed for his people with his share of Common Fund

Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane
Apexnewsgh

A modern Police Station constructed for the people of Nabdam District of the Upper East by their Nabdam Member Parliament (MP) Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane with his share of the Common Fund has since been locked with keys since the completion of the project in October 2020.

Following the robbery incident that took place in 2018 at the Pelungu which eventually took away the lives of 2 innocent residents of Nabdam constituency, the Member of Parliament upon dialogue with the assembly and technocrats in the constituency decided to build a Police station instead of a police post at Pelungu the busiest and hotspot community in the district due to the business activities in the area.  

However, it appears after the completion of the project by the MP, handing it over to the assembly has become a huge problem between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Nabdam Constituency and members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the district.

In an exclusive interview with Apexnewsgh.com, the Member of Parliament for Nabdam Constituency Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane who appeared not to be happy with the delay in handing over the Police Station project he executed narrated his side of the story.

“You know in 2018, armed robbers killed 2 people in my constituency and it was around 11:00 am broad daylight. So, we met as a group myself and the DCE and all the other technocrats at the Assembly and it was said that they wanted to build a police post but, I was against it because, police post means they will come and go away and we needed to put a station there where at any particular time, we will have police people there because the place has become more volatile than even the district capital”.

“So, the Assembly said they had no money. So, I decided that I was going to use my Common Fund to build the Police Station and the District Chief Executive (DCE) showed interest in the project initially but somewhere along the line, I think there was a lot of interference, that suggests that she allowed me to undertake such a project will not be good for the party”.

“The project was awarded 6months before the election and I got a contractor who agreed with me in terms of everything we wanted to do and so, the contractor was able to finish the project by the end of October 2020 and we wanted to handover. Because I thought that, if anything will happen during the elections, it will be at that particular place Pelungu. So, I wanted to hand over the structure to the Police before the election and that is where I realized that everything was interpreted alongside the elections that were coming”.

“They gave all sort of excuses among them was that, since we have not finished paying the contractor from the account, handing over was not possible and I said, I have arrears of Common Fund and so, I have explained to the contractor that the arrears for 2020 we have about more than 3months at that time we have not been paid, so, whatever is left of his money, we can use these 3months to guarantee it. So, there was no problem as regards payment and he agreed”.

“So, when we came to hand over, there came another excuse that since I didn’t use my personal money to build the Police Station and I used the Common Fund, I could not be involved in the handing over of the facility and my argument was that, when the roads are constructed, when buildings are constructed by the central government, we have the President coming down to do the handing over/open it for people to start using and that doesn’t mean that the money is coming from President pocket, is all of us our taxes or the loan we go for in the name of all of us that is given for the project. In the same vein, since that Common Fund was given to me and I have decided to use it for the project, I am the spending officer of that money by the constitution so, I should be involved, I am interested in it, I am answerable for whatever money that I use, so, I am ready to hand over and they said no no no handing over has to come from above”.

“There came another excuse, that you can’t even build a Police station without building accommodation for the Police staff. I said aaah, you know this is not a laydown budgeted money for everything, we are solving an emergency problem and this is the amount I have. In fact, the Police station is the most beautiful police station in the Northern part of the country with so many rooms and cells built according to modern specifications. All the floor is tied, we have both T&J, fan, etc are there. What we don’t have is the furniture. But for the staff, we can get 2, 3 or 4 tables and chairs to start. Then later when I have money or Assembly have money we can do the rest and then make sure, it is completed the way is supposed to look inside and this one too, they said noooo, they wouldn’t agree because am not supposed to involve in the handing over, somebody has to come from Accra and even the handing over process will involve the regional commander and they wrote letters but eventually, I had a call from the Police that I couldn’t do the handing over because is going to cause communal violence. Then 2 days to the election the issue came up again, I said I have to open the place up for the community to see the good work I have done. That one too, they said noooo I couldn’t step on that structure because when I stepped on that structure there will communal violence and I said nooo, that one I wouldn’t agree. So, it became like a partisan struggle with the police, police have taken a position and the party brought some NPP boys from my community and from Bolga who came to the place and said no, they wouldn’t allow me to step in there. But eventually, I went there, I said if you know I will be coming there, you have to give me protection but you can’t stop me from going there because, my movement is not restricted and I have given money for them to construct the police station and at this stage, you are telling me i cannot go there”.

“I went there in fact, it was just like a rally because my party people came there, the police people also came around over 4 policemen I saw them around. But the NPP had organized about 15 people who came there trying to cause a riot and is rather unfortunate that these things happened. So, eventually, this is the summary of what happened and we were not able to do the handing over”.

Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen

Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093

Ngamegbulam C. S

Leave a Reply