Dome Market Women Disown Adwoa Safo

…As They Boo ‘Ye Se Sam’

Traders at the Dome Market in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency in the Greater Accra Region, over the weekend, acted their own version of “showdown” with their once beloved Member of Parliament (MP), Sarah Adwoa Safo, as they booed and hissed at her.

The traders, who, in the past, almost worshipped the ground on which Ms. Safo walked, said they have had enough of their MP, who is faulted for abandoning her seat for the United States (US) for nearly a year.

The market women, who were paid a surprise visit by the MP last Thursday, October 26, stunned the sacked Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, by hooting and jeering at her in the full glare of everyone at the busy Dome Market, to the shock of onlookers.

It all happened when the MP stormed the market, located at her constituency, and apparently tried to exchange pleasantries with the charged traders.

The Anchor observed that while some traders shouted on top of their voices, saying, “ye se sam” to wit “we are changing,” others did the change sign with their hands raised in the air.

In a video that has since popped up on the internet, some of the traders though shook hands with the MP, yet told her in the face they would change her, while others carried the message from afar and delivered it to her hearing.

On top of their voices, they chanted “we want change,” “you are an embarrassment,” “Adwoa Safo, we don’t want you again,” among other chants.

One woman who was among the people who shook her hand told her, with regret, “The way I loved you and followed you, you have disappointed me, Adwoa.”

Ms. Safo, clad in blue top, jeans trousers plus a white cap, was initially beaming with a smile, but suddenly had her facial expression changed, apparently due to the unfavourable atmosphere.

She however managed to soldier on with the pleasantries with the toxic crowd, while traders also expressed their dissatisfaction, exposing her dwindled popularity.

At this juncture, some of the agitated traders abandoned their wares and followed her entourage with chants of “we want change,” while clapping until the 1:46 seconds video ended.

This is coming a few weeks after the MP, who has been in Parliament for three terms, was seen in videos gifting snacks (yoghurts, plantain chips) to her constituents during the limited voters’ registration exercise, organized by the Electoral Commission (EC).

It is unclear what triggered this apparent rejection, but many have linked it to her abandonment of the constituency for the US for almost a year.

The MP had from November 2021 left Ghana for the States for apparently personal issues, and this has not gone down well with her constituents, including constituency executives.

Because of the hung Parliament, the issue of Adwoa Safo , who earned the name Tiktok MP, became very topical both in Parliament and in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as well as in the media, in the better part of last year.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, at a point, had to refer her, together with two others, including father of her two children and MP for Assin Central, Ken Ohene Agyapong, to the Privileges Committee.

In the end, her long absence cost her, her ministerial job, but she still held on to the MP seat.

Last month, she released an apology statement, asking for forgiveness from President Akufo-Addo and the NPP, for the controversies her absence caused, while domiciled in the States.

Meanwhile, the legislator has expressed her desire to contest the seat for the fourth time. The NPP is yet to hold parliamentary primaries across the country.