A youth group in the Shama Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has begun vigorous lobbying and underground campaigning to get the Deputy Western Regional Minister, Emelia Arthur, to represent the constituency in Parliament in the 2012 elections. The group believes the former District Chief Executive for Shama will be the best candidate for the party considering her track record in the last two years. According to them, the incumbent MP, who is yet to complete his first term, is inactive as far as lobbying for the constituency’s development is concerned. They were however not willing to mention specific areas where he has failed because according to them, they are members of one NDC family. Spokesperson for the group, Robert Pallas Enyinam, who is also a polling station executive in the constituency, told Maxx News the current MP Hon. Gabriel Kojo Essilfie, has underperformed and does not deserve a second term. “The writing is on the wall that she made enormous achievement for Shama when she was DCE, and that even guaranteed her elevation to the position of Deputy Regional Minister. So we think that if such a person is pushed forward to lead the people of Shama, we will have a better way to go. If I explain certain things, it might be that I am going too far because we are one family. It is not Madam Emelia Arthur who is pushing her way through. It is the youth of this town,” he emphasized. Madam Emelia Arthur is known to be a member of the National Reform Party (NRP) who once contested the Shama seat on that party’s ticket. Even before she became the DCE for Shama, her appointment was twice rejected by a section of assembly members, who questioned her loyalty to the NDC. But the group’s spokesperson believes the former DCE’s allegiance to the NDC is not in doubt. “If she is not a card-bearing member, why do you think she will be given that position? The issue of her not being a card-bearing or NDC member is neither here nor there. There is no division among us but having said that, we also think that we need the best for the family. And the best is that, the youth are agitating for Madam Emelia Arthur. They think she is the best,” he noted. Meanwhile, an Aide to the sitting MP, Justice Kofi Ahiaveh says the group’s claims about the MP are untrue. According to him, the MP fought hard to capture the seat from the NPP in 2008 and deserves more than a term. He alleged the group may have been induced by Emelia Arthur to do her bidding. “As an MP, Hon. Gabriel Kojo Essilfie has brought t a lot of development to the area. So if somebody says he doesn’t deserve a second term, may be the person is saying that in his own interest. He has been paying students’ fees and carried out school projects all over the place and he has been able to get five communities electricity which has never happened in the District. I think the group that are calling for Hon. Emelia Arthur are doing so because of their stomach”. When contacted for her reaction, the Deputy Western Regional Minister, Emelia Arthur declined comment on the matter. However Maxx News sources say the former DCE is highly connected at the presidency, and is likely to receive massive support to unseat the current MP and to retain the seat for the NDC.