By Cletus Abaare
Member of Parliament for the Ashaiman constituency, Mr Ernest Henry Norgbey is reportedly trembling in fear following the picking of parliamentary nomination forms by his arch-revival, Mr Emmanuel Max-Voy to contest in the upcoming parliamentary primaries.
The wobbly MP, according to credible sources close to him, noted that since Mr Max-Voy preferably called Martin Luther declared his intentions to contest the parliamentary primaries of the Ashaiman constituency, the MP has become restless and fear stricken.
According to them, the restlessness of the MP is stuck in the fact that Mr. Max-Voy has over the years won the hearts of majority of people including delegates who have extolled his contributions to the progress of the party and constituency at large.
Our checks on the grounds, further confirmed that the MP who has been boasting of being the only Procurement Authority on the side of the Minority in parliament has dejectedly lost the constituency to the fired-brand businessman barely a year after winning the primaries of the party in 2015 and proceeding to win the seat during general elections in 2016.
According to our checks, the MP who hardly speak on the floor of the House, lost grip of the constituency when most party men and women, realised that he had never been part of the constituency and was a total stranger in their midst. This, many of them have said, it’s an insult to the good people of Ashaiman to allow somebody who has never been part of them and knows nothing about the constituency to continue leading them in parliament.
Our sources, also close to the businessman and owner of Martin Luther King Jr. Company with its schools dotted across the Ashaiman Municipality, said the delegates are crying to have Mr Max-Voy, who is a home-grown Ashaiman man to lead the people of Ashaiman into the 2020 general elections for a massive victory for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the constituency. This, according to them, is giving the MP wakeful nights.
“Having Mr Emmanuel Max-Voy, a recognized Authority in education and entrepreneurship in the august House would properly represent the people of Ashaiman when it comes to putting the issues affecting us before the House because he is a homeboy and knows everything about us,” one of our sources noted.
They continued that with current crops of people being pushed to run for Parliamentary seats across the country especially on the ticket of New Patriotic Party (NPP) means that the people of Ashaiman need a competent and highly knowledgeable person in parliament to intellectually compete with others to bring to the constituency the needed development. Such a person, according to them, is Mr Max-Voy.
The furthered that the educationist and businessman, though, is yet to publicly speak to the media after picking of his nomination forms, he has firmly laced a new political boots outside his usual business shoes to give the shaky MP, Mr Norgbey a hotter chase for his money on who becomes the next Parliamentary candidate for the NDC ahead of the 2020 general elections.
The Ashaiman Constituency seat which is currently held by Mr. Norgbey is one of the safe seats that has been in the hands of the NDC since 1992 but appears to be tilting towards the NPP as the NDC continues dropping in vote margins especially in the 2016 parliamentary elections.
The seat was won by Franklin Winfred K. Aheto of the NDC in 1992, he held onto it until Hon Emmanuel Kinsford Kwesi Teye of NPP took over in 2000 as a result of serious internal wrangling among the membership of the NDC in the constituency. Hon. Alfred Kwame Agbesi took the seat back for the NDC in the 2004 elections until Mr Norgbey took over in 2016.
According to the sources, Mr Max-Voy’s aspiration to contest the primaries was not borne by his own desires to enter the Ghana’s parliament but he has to succumb to numerous requests from his constituents and some topmost men in the party to safe the NDC from eventually losing the seat to the red-eyed ruling NPP come 2020 crucial elections.
Residents including party delegates in the area expressed the hope that Mr Max-Voy will be the better choice for the Parliamentary Candidacy position of the party in the constituency.
According to them, rejecting the philanthropist who has been the source of livelihood to many needy people in the constituency, the honour of becoming their candidate for the next elections will be a misplaced priority. They therefore, called on all to rally support for him to emerge victorious during the primaries so as to be able to win the Parliamentary seat for the party.
This means that, Mr Max-Voy known as ‘Martin Luther King Jr.’ will be smiling to parliament when he sails through the NDC primaries which many are confident it will be cool chop for him if he manages his campaign well.
