Physically challenged poised to winning Navrongo Central Constituency Parliamentary Seat

The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in charge of disability and gender, Jacob Atule Adongo, has officially declared his intention to file nominations to contest for the NDC parliamentary primary in the Navrongo Central Constituency parliamentary slot. Mr Adongo, a physically challenged social worker, has therefore appealed to delegates of the NDC in the Navrongo Central Constituency to have confidence in him by electing him as their parliamentary candidate to contest for parliamentary elections come 2012. Addressing party members and delegates of the party in Navrongo, Mr Adongo, who is a product of the University of Ghana and holds a Masters of Arts degree in NGO Management from the University of Stelbush in South Africa, said in spite of his visual impairment, he has what it takes to deliver development in the constituency if given the nod. He said though he has a herculean task of contesting against personalities like the Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo, he is not perturbed because he stands tall among all his contenders. To him, all those who served as MPs for the constituency had misplaced priorities that never had any impact on the lives of the constituents, especially the rural communities. While lauding his main contender, Mr. Woyongo for his excellent administration of the region, Mr. Adongo was of the view that the time has come for the party to give the young ones the chance to prove themselves and therefore called on the party’s delegates to vote for him during the primaries. He mentioned education and job creation as some of his major priorities when he given the nod as the MP for the area, stressing that the two areas are key in breaking the shackles of poverty in the area. “NDC he pointed out professes to have a social democratic philosophy which seeks to cater for the vulnerable in the society as such his disability will not in any way hinder his quest to become the next parliamentary candidate for the party in 2012.” He also mentioned a number of well known people both locally and international such as David Blunkett, British ex-cabinet minister who had vision impairment but have performed creditably and said he is not deterred by those using his condition to campaign against him. Touching on his credentials, Mr. Adongo said as Deputy National Co-ordinator of the NYEP in charge of disability and gender, he has helped to create over 5,000 jobs for most people particularly the youth under the various modules of the NYEP and other mainstream jobs, adding that due to intense lobbying and effective proposals, he helped developed and assisted in raising 5 million Euros from DANIDA to support the work of the NYEP. According to him, he has contributed his quota toward national development and hopes to draw on that experience to effectively manage the constituency if given the chance. Mr Adongo further indicated that he is motivated by his track record and from all indication he is poised to winning the upcoming primary and further proceed to wrestle the seat from the incumbent MP, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda in the 2012 elections. Mr Adongo moreover used the opportunity to challenged physically challenged persons to aspire for leadership positions since disability is not a barrier to progress.
GBC END IA/