Andrew Egyapa Mercer, the Member of Parliament for Sekondi Constituency in the Western Region, has provided financial support totalling GHC420,000 to 420 market women in his constituency.
The newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, who celebrated his 51st birthday with the traders, gave each of the 420 market women GHC 1,000 to help boost their businesses.
“420 for now, that’s the names that we got, and I’m told that some other people have indicated that they’ve not been covered. So we are gonna work to solicit support to provide them with the assistance to improve their trade,” Mercer stated.
He emphasized that the support was not influenced by party lines, highlighting his long-standing relationship with the market women and acknowledging the challenges they face in accessing loans from the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).
“No, not at all! I know many NDC people who will vote for me, so it isn’t a question of party lines at all. It’s about my market women who I’ve known all my life and have lived here with them and I know their concerns. There’s been some difficulty in accessing MASLOC because of some challenges we are facing, and so this has come in handy through the support of my friends and acquaintances/associates to get this out of the way through the foundation – Egyapa Care Foundation,” he told Beach FM.
Egyapa Mercer’s initiative through the Egyapa Care Foundation, comes in response to earlier financial support provided by the NDC’s Lawyer Blay Armah, who offered interest-free loans to 400 market women in the constituency. He questioned the timing and motive behind Lawyer Blay Armah’s financial support, suggesting it was a political strategy.
“All along when he was in the UK, did he come to give anyone some financial support in this constituency? It was when he became the candidate of the NDC and he felt that was his political strategy to entice them to vote for him. So I should sit and wait and fold my arms? What would you have done if you were in my shoes? Everybody has a political strategy – someone says he’s going to give interest-free loans and we are giving grants. I’m sure in the coming weeks, he will convert it into grants as well.”
