MR. ADAMU Daramani, one of the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary aspirants for Bawku Central Constituency has signaled the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be prepared to soberly hand back the seat to its rightful owners come 2008.
Mr. Daramani in an interview with The Chronicle, asserted that given the physical evidence of the NPP government’s pragmatic policies and programmes, the 2008 campaign would not be an uphill task.
He disclosed that though the incumbent NDC MP, Hon. Mahama Ayariga is his junior cousin, “I have given him notice that I walked away in 2004 for certain reasons but I’m back and the seat will have to go to where it rightly belongs.”
He said it was high time the NPP got a unifying candidate because of the polarized situation the party witnessed in 2004 disclosing that he has already initiated moves to unify the core Hawa group and that of the party’s member who went independent.
“The people have seen the reason to come together because it was out of our divisions that Mahama Ayariga was able to win”, indicating that Hon. Ayariga’s representation over the years has not brought much change to the constituency.
Mr. Daramani noted that to effect positive change in the lives of the people called for somebody who is capable of engaging society and taking part in decisions that will positively affect not only the people of Bawku but the North and Ghana as a whole.
According to him, the people of Bawku and the delegates for that matter have come to a consensus that they needed a real Bawku person who is sober and could articulate the concerns of the communities as well as capable of winning many floating voters.
The 1st Vice Chairman of the UK/Ireland branch of the NPP for two terms running, Mr. Daramani, by his own judgment concluded, “I am generally accepted”, considering the level of enthusiasm and support demonstrated by the various communities so far.
“Come 2008 the surprise will be that personalities of NDC will stand on my campaign platform and campaign for me, because it is not a matter of NPP or NDC at the moment but it is a Bawku man representing Bawku’s interests”, the NPP aspirant predicted, reiterating, “I am a truly Bawku man. I cut across all the communities.”
With the caliber of people who have filed their nominations in the Region, Mr. Daramani was optimistic that there would surely be a positive change in the number of NPP parliamentary seats in the Region come 2008 elections.
Asked if his long stay abroad would not affect his chances, Mr. Daramani firmly stated, “I left Bawku but Bawku did not leave me”, explaining that he has been part of all the activities back home and had been visiting home frequently. He explained further that between October last year and May this year, he has visited home not less than seven times and believed his presence has been very significant.
When pushed to the wall, Mr. Daramani disclosed that he was even taking care of a good number of students from Bawku area at the tertiary institutions.
He appealed to the delegates to give him the mandate, assuring them that Bawku Central was a safe NPP seat and with him as the candidate it would remain so for years to come.
On his views about the passage and implementation of People’s Representative Amendment Law (ROPAL), Mr. Daramani said it was a matter of constitutional rights, explaining that it was a travesty of justice that Ghanaians abroad could not vote in political elections because the resources that the people remit show their love and commitment to their nation and that in a way will let them feel they are a part of the country.
He believed the reason the NDC is opposing ROPAL was that they are so unpopular that they will hardly get any dividends of ROPAL. It is not about getting sympathetic vote but about constitutionality and “If the NDC are true democrats they should really allow this thing to go by”, because it would entrench the country’s democracy.
He was of the view that ROPAL would be a litmus test on how Ghanaians feel, arguing that if we really want to know the true reflection of how Ghanaians feel about the ruling government, we should all support and make it work, because “you cannot buy somebody’s vote in UK.”
The aspirant believed that the outside votes would present a clearer assessment on the performance of the government of the day. “How many pounds are you going to use to buy somebody’s vote?” he quipped.
Meanwhile, Mr. Daramani is contesting the parliamentary primaries with the Deputy Regional
Minister, Alhaji Ahmed Awudu Yirimeah; Mr. Mohammed Tahiru Nambe a.k.a ‘MT’, the Regional Liaison Officer of National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and Mr. Gabriel Asana, an Accountant at the Regional NADMO Office.
