The Member of Parliament for Sekondi Constituency, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has indicated that he cannot solve all problems confronting his constituents even if he is assigned a hundred years tenure.
According to him, problems keep evolving and it will be difficult for anyone to find solutions to all challenges facing humanity.
The Member of Parliament was speaking in an interview with Nyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, the host of Connect FM’s Omanbapa morning show.
His comment follows concerns raised by some Sekondi youth groups who are demanding accountability from him.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the various youth groups, Michael Grant Hayford, the MP has failed to fulfill his promises after six years of being voted to the law-making house of Ghana.
“We voted for him for four years and we realized he needed more time to fulfill all his promises. We voted for him again and after six years, he has done nothing to better the lives of the constituents. His promises including Port expansion, Sekondi University, Sekondi Market, GNPC head office, and many others are nowhere to be found. We are only asking him to call a town hall meeting and tell us what he has done for us,” he noted.
In response, the Member of Parliament indicated that even though he made some promises, he cannot solve all the problems in the constituency.
He added that inasmuch as the Member of Parliament is working to ensure development, it is the sole responsibility of the Municipal and District Assemblies to work on projects.
“I have not been under any illusion that I will be able to solve all problems in Sekondi even if I spend one hundred years as MP. This is because some of the problems are historical, others are present and many are evolving so at every point in time, there will be problems that need to be solved. God even has problems in this world and we always go to Him pleading for our problems to be solved. As a Member of Parliament, I have no problems with people expecting me to develop my constituency. If that is whether that in itself within our constitutional construct is the role of the MP or not, that’s the expectation of the people because people believe I have been voted for. But in law and fact, the Metropolitan Assembly is solely responsible for the direct day-to-day development of the constituency,” he indicated.
According to him, Members of Parliament have no budget allocations for the development of their respective constituencies.
He adds that MPs only ensure provisions are made for developmental needs to be met.
“We are a developing country so if people vote for you, they expect that their needs will be met and if we contest elections we make promises after looking at the environment and the needs. As an MP, I do not have a budget, I do not have any execution structure. In fact, within our local government laws, I’m only an ex-officio member of the Assembly. But in collaboration with the MMDCEs, I make sure government make provisions for all developmental needs in Sekondi,” he added.
According to him, there are several projects at different stages of completion in the constituency.
“I have Sekondi at heart and that is why I decided to serve. We are working on the Port Expansion Project, the Sekondi market will be captured in the 2023 budget and we are currently working on the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital redevelopment project. There are several projects we are undertaking and I’m sure by the time my tenure is over, Sekondi will be a better place,” he added.
Source: 3news.com
