[ 2015-08-10 ]

Accra Mayor Eyes Parliament
The Republic Newspaper can report that the Mayor
of Accra, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije is set to become
one of the new faces in Parliament by 2017, as he
laces his boots to contest the Ablekuma South
Parliamentary seat.

Close sources to the mayor have told this paper
that the Accra Mayor, who considers himself as
“a son of Greater Accra, ” would want to serve
his birthplace (in the Ablekuma South
constituency) when his tenure ends as Accra
Mayor.

The constituency located on the southern coast of
Accra with traditional areas such as, Korle Gono,
Mamprobi, Banana Inn, Gleffe, Akoto Lante and some
part of Dansoman is a place where Dr. Vanderpuije
is very familiar with, having grown up there.

According to our sources, the Mayor is not very
satisfied with the current pace of development of
the constituency, so rather than “fold his
arms” after serving as Accra Mayor, he would
seek to represent his people in Parliament.

This decision is expected to see the Mayor with
the epic beard in Parliament after the 2016
general elections.

The Ablekuma South seat is currently occupied by
Frederic Fritz Baffour, a former Communications
Minister and incidentally, a cousin of Dr.
Vanderpuije.

The ruling NDC is said to open nominations by
August 24, 2015, for all aspiring members of
Parliament wishing to stand on the party’s
ticket to officially declare their intentions. Dr.
Vanderpuije is expected to pick his forms when
nominations open, this paper can confirm.

It is currently not clear if Fritz Baffour intends
to recontest for that seat, but this paper has
gathered that even if he intends to, with the new
interest shown in the seat by the Accra Mayor, he
would have to step down because the Mayor endears
more to the people than the incumbent MP.

If he does decide to contest Dr. Vanderpuije for
the seat, analysts within the ruling National
Democratic Congress (NDC) contend that that would
be the biggest mistake of Fritz Baffour as he
would lose “miserably” at the primaries given
his current low ratings among voters in the
constituency.

Residents of the Ablekuma South have often
complained about Fritz Baffour’s estrangement
from the affairs of the constituency, while NDC
party members have complained of him losing touch
with the party. They contend that Alfred Oko
Vanderpuije would be a much better choice if he
indeed takes up the initiative.

Oko Vanderpuije who was recently awarded the
prestigious Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ award as
the Best African Mayor is expected to tout his
long list of achievements as the Mayor of Accra as
his main selling point for his parliamentary
ambitions.

Some people may criticize him for his seeming
high-handedness in his duties as a Mayor, he is,
however, undoubtedly considered one of the best
Mayors the capital city had ever had.

He is associated with expanding the drainage
system in Accra, relocating hawkers to more
conducive market places, decongesting the city
main centre such as the Makola shopping area and
pulling down several notorious slums in the city,
much to the chagrin of squatters but development
observers have praised him for taking up the
challenge that his predecessors have lacked the
courage to tackle.

His efforts have given Accra the requisite modern
image, observers have said.

His recent unflinching resolve to pull down Sodom
and Gomorrah-Accra’s most notorious slums has
earned him several accolades because the slum is
noted for its contribution to the perennial floods
that dog Accra.

The latest and deadliest of such floods resulted
in the death of almost 200 residents of Accra
barely two months ago

Source - The Republic

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