Parliamentary aspirants for 2016 elections in the Nanumba South Constituency did not turn up to meet women farmers from 11 communities to tell them what they will do for them if they are elected.
The aspirants who are contesting to be elected included Onaja Thomas of NPP; a former DCE, Latir Maban George of NDC, a former Member of Parliament under the ticket of PNC, Yakubu Limpo of PPP and Mamani Wumbei Abdulai of the CPP.
The encounter was organized by Action Aid Ghana and Sontaba NGOs assisting small scale women farmers in the three Northern Regions.
Representatives of the aspirants, who seemed not prepared for the encounter, digressed more on what their respective political parties will do for general farming in the country but not addressing the problems of the women farmers.
The General Manager of Action Aid Ghana, Madam Esther Boateng, said the purpose of the interaction was aimed at identifying and presenting their issues to the parliamentary aspirants to ensure that their demands are responded to when they are elected.
She said representatives of the women small-scale farmers were to express their concerns regarding productive resources and reducing what she called unpaid care work and meet their demands.
Madam Boateng said each parliamentary aspirant was to make a presentation and a pledge to ensure that policies and programmes for increasing women farmers’ access to productive resources including micro credit, inputs supplies productive, productive lands, agricultural extension services and appropriate technologies among other things are espoused.
The Programmes Manager of Action Aid Ghana, Mrs. Alia Mumuni in an interview with TV3 on her impression on the encounter expressed her disappointment for the inability of any the aspirants to respond to their invitation.
She said all efforts were made to ensure that the aspirants were present at the encounter adding that they assured to be to honor it personally.
Mrs. Mumuni said the aspirants were to sign an undertaking with the women farmers as a commitment to meet some of their demands if each of them was elected to parliament.
The leaders of the women farmers took turns to express their problems including credit facilities, lack of marketing for their produce after harvesting, and farm inputs to increase their farms.
The representatives of the aspirants for NPP, Alhassan Suadik said the promise by the Presidential Flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, to ensure that each village will benefit from one dam was to assist all year round farming, adding that it will go a long way to help the nation.
Mr. Aliu Abdulai of the CPP said flag bearer of the party, Green Street was a person with disability whose colleagues in that position suffer some sorts of discriminations and he will ensure that women who also suffer in that categories are given the best treatment especially those into farming business.
The representative of the PPP aspirant, Fusieni Nuhu said Paa Kwesi Ndoum has released six tractors to provide services to farmers in the area and advised the women groups to take advantage of the facility and apply for to enjoy the services.
The district Director of National Commission for Civic Education, Mr. Abdulai Fuseini, advised electorate not to indulge in any form of violence before, during, and after elections.
He said every voter has a choice to make and should respect and accept the results declared by the Electoral Commission for a peaceful hand over to the next administration.
By Zakaria Abdul-Kadiri|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @3Newsgh