There are hardly any doubts in Ghana today about the unbearable hardships that citizens are facing and the many calls on the leadership of the country to help ameliorate these economic downturns.
The situation has heightened so much that practices that hitherto were more prevalent in election years, or periods close to general polls, have become the "norm’ in some parts of the country.
Even more surprising about these incidences of citizens sending their leaders away over the poor state of infrastructure in their communities or because of underdevelopment, has been the fact that these things are happening within the strongholds of the governing New Patriotic Party.
In this listicle, GhanaWeb has put together two recent instances when Members of Parliament in the Ashanti Region – both of whom are members of the NPP - have been chased out of their constituencies.
The general consensus from these constituents has been that their leaders have been unable to satisfy the requirements of their basic needs.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, MP, Suame:
On Monday, July 18, 2022, some artisans at the Suame Magazine in the Suame Municipality of the Ashanti region hooted and pelted their Member of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, with sachets of water for allegedly denying them development.
The MP, who is also the Majority Leader in Parliament, had gone to inspect the abandoned Suame Highway, which the artisans said had claimed one life due to its deteriorated nature.
Earlier, the artisans blocked the highway and demonstrated against the MP and the government for not ensuring that the road was fixed.
They warned of another demonstration on that Monday if the contractor did not return to the road to have it fixed.
Following the threat, the contractor returned to the road to work, and it was the reason the MP, who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, decided to pay an inspection visit.
Unfortunately for him, some angry artisans, upon hearing of the arrival of the MP, thronged the highway and started hooting and pelting him with sachets of water and subsequently chased him away.
The Suame legislator, accompanied by the Municipality Chief Executive for the area, Maxwell Ofosu Boakye, and some party members, had to run and seek protection on top of a storey building at Suame Tarkwa Makro.
Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire, MP, Atwimah Nwabiagya South:
Angry constituents of the Atwimah Nwabiagya South constituency chased out their Member of Parliament, Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire, on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
The residents, angry with the MP over the poor state of their roads, chased him away, bringing his “Talk to Your MP” tour in the constituency to an abrupt end.
In a report by starrfm.com.gh, it stated that Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire was on the tour to listen to the issues affecting his people when the residents of Kobeng sent him away in anger.
The report added that the residents began by verbally abusing the MP when he first showed up in their community.
The angry residents hooted at him while throwing various tools at him.
As the situation escalated, the security detail present had to whisk the MP away, restoring calm to the community, the report added.
Reacting to the incident thereafter, Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire said that he does not blame his constituents much because it is within their rights to protest against the lack of development in their areas.
He added that while he was not hurt during the tensed moments, the reason he has not been able to satisfy the needs of his people was due to the effects of the Coronavirus as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire added that while at that, he has presented the concerns of the people to the Minister of Roads and Highways and is hopeful attention will be directed at them soon.
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Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Emmanuel Adjei Ahwire are two NPP MPs from the Ashanti Region