In her view, Tina Mensah, who also doubles as a Deputy Health Minister, is best placed to explain why construction work on the health facility has stalled.

Residents of Tetegu in the Weija-Gbawe Constituency in Accra, have expressed their disappointment in the Member of Parliament, Tina Mensah, who also doubles as a Deputy Health Minister over her inability to facilitate the completion of a CHPS compound in the area.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HUlnN32JqsusTXumMbcgRMea8ZOXqw2y”]The facility has been left at the mercy of the weather, and is now occupied by squatters.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mrs. Darko Opoku, who clarified that she did not finance the project on her own, but with contribution from government appointees, said the completion of the project is now the responsibility of the new government.

Appointees under the Mahama administration supposedly devoted 10 percent of their salaries towards the construction of some CHPS compounds across the country.

But it appears the absence of that support has stalled the project, according to Mrs. Darko Opoku.

“…clearly, these salaries that the 10 percent was being deducted from were not being used anymore because there was a change of government so there was no way that the project could have continued. So I don’t know what kind of plan the Member of Parliament has to continue it or what this government intends to do.”

“Now it is in their hands because clearly there is no individual who can go and say; I am using my money to complete it or anything of that sort. So I don’t know what plan the Member of Parliament has, so I am sure that we will all be grateful if we are able to get her onto the phone lines… then she will tell us exactly what her plans are so far as that project is concerned.”

“I simply think it is the job of the Member of Parliament or whoever it is who is in charge now, so she would be able to tell the constituents exactly what her plans are for it,” she stated.

Spotlight on abandoned projects 

Citi FM has put the spotlight on several health facilities that have either been fully or partially completed, but are not fully functional.

A typical examples is the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre, the first phase of which has been completed, but the facility is not in use due a tussle between the school and the Health Ministry over who should manage it.

Others have included the solar-powered medical centre at the Volo Digital Village completed in 2015, which is not operational due to lack of staff to man the facility.

A 60-bed capacity ultra-modern Bank of Ghana Hospital which was completed in 2017, is also yet to be put to use although all major equipment and hospital material have been duly installed.

The facility, located at Cantonments in Accra, was part of a GH¢445.8 million capital expenditure commitments of the bank to major projects including the construction of a data center and its guest house.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Deal with abandoned Tetegu CHPS compound – Obuobia to Tina Mensah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A new photo of the two that has gone viral on social media shows Obuobia Darko-Opoku of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Tina Mensah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) facing each other and holding hands in a public prayer.

[contextly_sidebar id=”e4wrtGh5RtXGtdk9MtMVnDN4sVU3qEhi”]Citifmonline.com sources say the photo was taken at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church at Mendskrom in the constituency on Sunday [October 30].

The two were invited by the Church to participate in its annual harvest.

The heated campaign in the constituency seemed to have caused some enmity betweeen the two.

Both parties have been axtively seeking to secure influence in the constituency in the run-up to the December polls.

Recently, supporters of the two candidates engaged in a face-off when loyalists to Tina Mensah tried to stop Obuobia Darko-Opoku from donating an ambulance to the Gas South Municipal Hospital.

According to Tina Mensah, Obuobia was taking advantage of her position as the Deputy Director of the Ghana Free Zones Board to undertake such government gestures and touting them as her personal projects.

A parliamentary debate organized by National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) with support from the Coalition for Domestic Elections Observers (CODEO) and the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) for the candidates of the constituency had to be rescheduled last week after Tina Mensah boycotted it, alleging that the questions had been leaked to Obuobia.

The Weija-Gbawe constituency has been identified as one of the key constituencies to watch in the upcoming elections.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post #GhElections: Obuobia-Darko, Tina Mensah unite in peace prayer [Photo] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The two main contenders for the seat are the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah and the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Obuobia Darko-Opoku.

It all started with allegations that the NDC parliamentary candidate for the constituency has been deceiving voters by unfairly exploiting the incumbency of her party to her advantage.

But Mrs. Darko-Opoku embraced the merits of belonging to the governing NDC saying, “I am the candidate for the ruling party and I will use it to campaign everyday, every night.”

She also argued that the people are not really complaining about how the development comes as long as it comes.

“If you leave on a road for 35 years and that road has never been constructed and you wake up and that road has been never been constructed and you wake up one day and that road has being constructed and is almost finished, you will appreciate it. Do you really care how it came in or not? At least something has been done.”

“Does it really matter who brought it? Does it really matter who lobbied for it? Does it really matter what it is? What it means is that the government has an eye in the constituency and the government is working in the constituency,” The NDC aspirant added.

The NPP’s Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah however said she was not moved by the hasty developmental projects undertaken for votes and vowed to hand Mrs. Darko-Opoku, a humbling defeat in the December polls.

“The fact on the ground is that the people are tired, they are hungry, there are no jobs, and they want work. That is it. They want better development. They don’t want development that will come three months or four months to elections. They want people who are going to be truthful to them,” Mrs. Mensah said.

The Weija-Gbawe seat has been a comfortable one for the NPP in recent years.

However, with the growing dissatisfaction with the performance of the incumbent NPP, MP Rosemond Comfort Abrah, and the exchange of propaganda between the two camps, the uphill challenge for both aspirants, remains an interesting contest to look forward to in the December elections.

Listen to the full episode of Campaign Trail below.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Weija-Gbawe: I won’t stop using NDC incumbency to campaign – Obuobia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.