A Former Information Minister under the erstwhile Mills administration, Mr Fritz Baffour has said actors who have been elected in last Saturday's parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will bring a lot to parliament.
The former Member of Parliament for the Ablekuma South constituency said the actors if elected to parliament in the 2020 general elections will “contribute their quota from the world of culture”.
Three entertainment personalities over the weekend inched closer to becoming members of Ghana’s parliament.
The three, all well-known faces when it comes to the movie screens, braced the storms and took huge gambles that paid off late Saturday.
Mr Dumelo, in Saturday’s poll, beat his only contender Afua Adoboe with a huge margin to represent the NDC in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency. He polled 768 while Afua Adoboe polled 99.
Ms Gomashie, a former Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture in the Mahama administration, also won the Ketu South constituency contest.
After the votes were counted, the veteran actress won 586 votes with her closest contender, Fogah Nuku, polling 555 votes.
Another actress, Ebi Bright, will also represent the NDC in the Tema Central constituency after beating two other candidates.
After the polls, Bright polled 421 while Sedinam Matanawui and Carl Owuompesika polled 249 and 111 votes respectively, out of the 781 total votes cast.
Speaking in reaction to their victories, Mr Baffour who is also an actor in an interview an ClassFM said: “In office, you’re sometimes constrained; you’re constrained sometimes by the whip, you’re constrained by your ideology, you’re constrained by your constituency and what they need and all that, so, you’re sometimes boxed-in but it’s a good experience; it’s a good learning experience; it’s a good learning curve for many people and I think that people like John Dumelo and the two wonderful women, Ebi Bright and Dzifa Gomashie, I mean they’ll bring a lot to bear in parliament and to contribute their quota from the world of culture”.
“I mean if I were the only out of the 275 at a certain time, what impact could I have made. You see what I mean. The more that’s coming from there, we can see what’s happening”, the former broadcaster said.
“For example,” he noted, “We had very few women in parliament, so, the cause of women was not fast enough. Now, we’re making sure that we’re getting quite a few women, though not enough yet. I believe that once you present a certain group in our population or our society, you can push forward the aims and objectives of that society for the advancement of that society.”
Fritz Baffour
Mr Baffour also advised the newly-elected parliamentary candidates to work very hard and be guarded by humility in discharging their duties if elected as parliamentarians.
“They’ve got to work very very hard, and I realised, I mean at a certain time that humility is very very important and you’ve got to be able to listen to your people because that is the only way you can represent them fully.
“And, so, it’s a matter of humility, a matter of hard work; you shouldn’t stint on the things that would help your people.”
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