Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The member representing Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo federal constituency, Ebonyi State in the House of Representatives, Nkemkanma Kama has warned stakeholders to stop demanding for gratification from indigent persons empowered in the constituency.
Kama said he has discovered that indigent persons are always approached “for settlement” by some of the stakehokders each time the indigent ones are empowered, and declared that such persons have invited indigents in their lives.
The lawmaker stated this in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state while briefing the constituents on his efforts in the National Assembly as their representative.
“If you give money to give someone, the person will start demanding for settlement. The person will tell that person “I am the one that nominated you for this empowerment, you must give me part of the money from this your money.”
“There are some women in this constituency that sell vegetable that is not more than N2,000. They feed their families from this, they pay their children school fees from this. If N10,000 is given to each of them to support their businesses to know if the vegetable business will grow, you will have guts to approach an old woman and collect half of the money.
“Let me tell you, anybody that collect money from an indigent person, has invited indigent in his life (sic).
“I gave out bags of rice for Christmas celebration last year, I ordered the distribution of the rice and food condiments. Some shared the rice while some refused to share it.
“The same thing happened in the N10,000 naira that was meant for the indigents. Some well to do persons, comfortable persons used vehicles and collected the monies.
“These are the things we need to fight against, these are the things we need to fight,” he said.
He assured that he was committed to working tirelessly in collaboration with other leaders of the constituency to address the problems of the constituents by prioritising transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in his decision-making processes.
“We will continue to engage with stakeholders, advocate for policies and laws that benefit us all,” Kama said.
