Where Lies The Fate Of The JAMAN NORTH?

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As an indigenous son of the Jaman North District/Constituency, I have always been passionate about the welfare of my motherland and strived to make the little contributions I can as an individual, to see the progress we deserve. Born and bred there up to a certain age, I am not ignorant to how the constituency started and how it has fared in the course of time. The slow pace of development is what has necessitated this piece. 


Our people of the Jaman North constituency have mostly been farmers for as long as I can remember. Before anyone knew that there could be an economic benefit in cashew nut farming, our great grandparents and grandparents had already cultivated the crop just for the sake of sucking the juice and the shade the cashew tree provided in the farm when the sun came blazing. Our people all the same were major yams and cassava farmers that made a living out of it. Then the market for the cashew nut came and boosted the economic fortunes of the people of the Jaman North constituency. Government also became a major beneficiary from revenues from the cashew nut market. It is interesting to know that almost every household has a farm that they make some gains from, during the cashew-buying season. The buying and selling activities of the crop have also provided different forms of job opportunities to the youth of the area. But, that is almost all there is. 


The question here is, what has government contributed in the development of the Jaman North constituency since it was carved from the Jaman District under former President John Agyekum Kuffour? This is where lies the political development gained by my people. 
As indicated above, the Jaman North District was formed from the Jaman District of old, which had its capital at Drobo, now capital of the Jaman South District. Everyone in the newly created district was so elated, bearing in mind the economic and infrastructural gains that would come with the new district. We all danced and made merry. Our hopes of the niceties of life were high. Then the merry making died down and we came back to the realities of life. 
With the creation of the district came the Jaman North constituency, which came with a slot for a Member of Parliament in the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. We were again happy, with the realization that one of our own people was going to be elected into parliament to speak for us. It finally came to pass with the election of Hon. Alex Asum-Ahensah from the National Democratic Congress(NDC) to represent the people. He went to parliament for two consecutive terms(a period of eight years), and served the people with a full government machinery of the party he belonged to in place. 

He did as much as he could, and as much as government supported him to realize for his people, under the NDC. But apart from the usual developmental projects he could undertake in the individual towns, there was no major face-lift in the constituency. Before he was voted out of power in 2012, he was the Minister for Culture and  Chieftaincy Affairs. But ironically, he left that portfolio without being able to solve major Chieftaincy issues in the very constituency he represented.
 
Exit Asum-Ahensah, Enter Siaka Stevens 

In the 2012 election, our MP that doubled as the Minister for Culture and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Alex Asum-Ahensah, was beaten to his seat by Hon. Siaka Stevens of the New Patriotic Party(NPP).  Hon. Stevens had worked his socks off to see the growth and progress of the hitherto lesser-fancied NPP in the Jaman North District. Though his first term in office as an MP was under an opposition party, he served his people well, notably in the education sector. It must however be noted that there is always some sort of friction between the office of the MP and the district assembly, especially when they represent different parties, and Hon. Siaka Stevens' first term was no exception. 

In any case, his dedication to work and his good relationship with the people he represented won him another term in a fiercely contested election in 2016. Electoral fortunes also smiled on the New Patriotic Party in 2016, ushering the party into office. Everyone in the Jaman North constituency, both party people and opponents alike, saw Hon. Siaka Stevens as a hero that was going to benefit big from the fortunes of the NPP in government. The least some of us projected for him was a Deputy ministerial portfolio, and major developmental projects like the construction of major roads leading into and within his constituency, as a THANK YOU to him and his people for the faith in the NPP.

 This is a man that took a party that had never won the Jaman North seat since its inception, into winning ways, against a full government machinery in place. This is a man that retained his seat, despite all the machinations of the government of the day, and increasing presidential votes in the process. We all thought he deserved a standing ovation in the presence of this government. But well, it is politics as usual, and some of us might not understand what goes into certain appointments. So we disappointingly watched all government appointments slip off his fingers. Don't forget that even the MP he wrestled power from in 2012, had been awarded with an ambassadorial appointment to the Equatorial Guinea. But the man that achieved this feat by capturing the seat for two consecutive terms and increasing the fortunes of the NPP in the constituency wasn't worthy of any high position in government? We watched and hoped that our disappointment will probably translate into development in the constituency. Two years into government, our roads are yet to be tarred. Our MP is yet to be elevated in government. Our political gains are yet to manifest. And our people are increasingly becoming impatient. 
But wait... It is not all over, is it? 
New regions have recently been created under His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The plea of some of us to the president is to still honor and appoint our MP, Hon. Siaka Stevens, with the position of a Regional Minister, in one of the newly created regions. It is better late than never. Then we expect some works on our roads in the constituency. The dust in the towns and villages is becoming unbearable. The faith and the expectations of my people should not be allowed to wane completely before government decides to rise up. At that point in time, nobody will be ready to listen. And the consequences to government and the party won't be palatable. Until we hear some good news from government, we're still keeping our fingers crossed. 

Osonoba Wise King Solomon II 
(Concerned son of the Jaman North constituency) 
Social Media activist 

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