COFTWOM LAUDS PRESIDENT MILLS (PAGE 16, APRIL 12, 2010)

THE Coalition for the Welfare of the Masses (COFTWOM) has commended President J.E.A. Mills for instituting investigations into the allegations against the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo.
It also expressed confidence in the National Security, hoping that by the end of the investigations the President would have a clear picture of the issues the coalition had earlier raised against Mr Woyongo for allegedly awarding a contract to his nephew without applying the Procurement Law.
COFTWOM expressed these sentiments in a press statement signed by a leading member of the coalition and Deputy Co-ordinator of the NDC Communication Team in the Upper East, Felix Dordaa.
It also commended Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Upper East Region for their mediation role in the matter which ensured that it did not lead to demonstrations and chaos.
“We agree that the mode of agitation by NDC youth across the country is not the best in recent times and wish to state emphatically that the coalition has been pretty civil in its dealings. It is important to state that nobody should try, or as it were, discount or dismiss complaints made by people. The agitation that is coming from all over the country is the product of the lack of attention and refusal on the part of people to listen to complaints and act appropriately,” it said.
It called on the party hierarchy and the President to meet such youth groups and all stakeholders to listen to them and resolve their complaints.
The coalition said it was not against the award of contracts to people who were not NDC members or relations of the minister, neither was it demanding that contracts be given to only NDC members, but it was against the mode of the awards and the victimisation of some of its members who had openly demanded why the regional minister had given big contracts to his nephew and cronies alone, while the majority of contractors were denied contracts.
In the view of COFTWOM, the regional minister should have suggested to the committee to break down the contract into bits to enable other contractors in the region to be awarded part of the work.