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Bunkpurugu, Ghana – A wind of political change is about to sweep strongly across the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri Constituency in the North East Region of Ghana as 26 year old development advocate Benjamin Kafari Dimongso has been hand-picked by leadership of the Liberal Party of Ghana to stand on its ticket as parliamentary candidate for the upcoming 2020 elections.
Mr. Benjamin Kafari’s five years working experience as a community development practitioner and entrepreneur makes him versatile, and he is able to work with people from varied social background and cultures.
He has played vanguard role in the development of various associations and has demonstrated leadership ability in his social and professional undertakings. His Multi-disciplinary skills and youthful exuberance has enabled him to work independently and cross-functionally within teams.
Personal drive, the will to make a change, excel and the willingness to take up new challenges are the cutting edges of his personality.
Mr. Benjamin Kafari, who announced his intention to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election last week, says he is leaving no stone unturned in order to win the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri seat.
Since he announced his bid for the seat, many admirers including women, men, the youth and even some supporters of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party have assured him of their support and vote.
But this groundswell of support for him is beginning to make both the NDC and the NPP camps feel uneasy and threatened. They are worried he could win by splitting their votes. If he wins, he would have broken years of political monopoly between the two political parties which have dominated the constituency over the last decade.
“The people of Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri are tired of hopelessness and underdevelopment from the NDC and NPP. The achievements of these two parties over the years have been very abysmal. Through my NGO and its meagre resources, I have been able to achieve so much within a very short time.
If I am given the mandate by my people to represent them in parliament I could do a lot with my share of the MPs common fund and other support from private institutions”, he told Savannah News in an interview.
Mr. Benjamin Kafari has promised the people of Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri Constituency jobs through the establishment of ICT and Entrepreneurship Incubation Centres, livelihood and economic empowerment for women, building a more robust educational system for teachers and students and improvement in the agricultural sector so that household farmers can produce more.
Additionally, he intends to promote ecotourism and recreational activities through the Nakpanduri Escarpment so as to create employment for the youth, bring improvement in the district’s health system as well as promote peace and development through the traditional and religious councils.
Biography
Born on October 26th 1994 to a Mamprusi father, Dimongso Bagamsa Kafari and a Bimoba mother Tuaba Gbiar-Laar who hails from Najong number one, Mr. Benjamin Kafari is a researcher and community development practitioner.
He is the founder and Executive Director of Aid for Socio-economic and Rural Development (ASERD-Ghana) and acting Managing Director of Dinbian magazine. He is also the Research and Advocacy Officer for the Coalition for Development of Northern Ghana (NORTHCODE-Ghana).
Educational Background
The grandson of Pibrana Dimongso Bagamsa, late Paramount Chief of Pibri Traditional Area in the Mamprugu Kingdom had his basic school education at Binde L/A Primary School in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District and Canteen Junior High School at Damongo in the West Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region between 2000 and 2009.
Between 2014 and 2008, Mr. Benjamin Kafari gained admission into then Wa campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS) now Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) where he studied a 4-year Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Business Studies (IBS) with a specialization in Management from the School of Business and Law.
In February 2018, he was selected from 700 Young African Leaders who competed, and awarded a scholarship to study a 2-Month civic leadership training course at the prestigious Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) sponsored by the U.S Embassy in Ghana, through The Young Africa Leaders Initiative (YALI West Africa RLC), an initiative by Barack Obama, former USA President, to empower young leaders in Africa.
In 2019, he studied and obtained a professional certificate on Leadership Studies and Climate Activities from the Staley School of Leadership Studies of the Kansas State University in USA.
Achievements and Awards
Through his charity organisation, Mr. Benjamin Kafari has achieved a lot of things for his people. He has equally been celebrated by reputable organisations for some of these achievements.
In May 2017, he was among 23 young leaders selected from West Africa to participate in a training programme on Youth in Governance and Tax Justice by Global Platform, a subsidiary of ActionAid Ghana.
While at the University, he initiated and implemented a project called “Empowering The School Child Project” that sought to promote career development, child rights protection, child development and personal coaching for Basic and Senior High Schools within the five regions of Northern Ghana. The ongoing project has benefited over 15,000 students and 800 classroom teachers.
He also initiated a cassava production and gari processing business for income generation for 12 women groups comprising averagely 10 women in a group.
In June 2017, he was recognized and awarded a Certificate of Honour by Osei Kusi Foundation and Selfless4Africa for his role in community service and volunteerism for national development.
Also, in 2018, he was adjudged, the winner of the National Agribusiness Essay contest organized by Agribusiness Media and Partners in West Africa.
Between 2019 and 2020 he organized several youth empowerment programmes for youth in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District which sponsored students with capacity building activities including Spelling Bee and Debate contests.
In March 2020, he formed a team of students who competed in a student project organized by the Food System Caravan and was adjudged one of the Winners in West Africa.
He has also organized ICT literacy training on Google Suit for teaching and learning for over 360 teachers across the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri and the Yunyoo-Nansuan Districts of the North East Region.
Mr. Benjamin Kafari is currently forming Village Savings and Loans Associations and Shea Butter processing groups to empower rural women within the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri and Yunyoo-Nansuan Districts of the North East Region of Ghana.
By SavannahNewsOnline.Com/Philip Liebs
