Politics of Sunday, 8 November 2009

Source: GNA

Let us find ways of marketing PNC to Ghanaians - Morna

Tamale, Nov. 8, GNA - Mr. Bernard Mona, General Secretary of the Peo= ple's National Convention (PNC), has advised members of the party to help find ways of marketing the PNC to Ghanaians, to serve as an alternative to the=

NDC and the NPP come December 2012.

He claimed that the NDC and the NPP have over the years bombarded Ghanaians with politics of deception to win votes, but had failed to fulf= ill the social and economic needs of the people.

Mr. Mona gave the advice in Tamale on Saturday when he addressed foo= t soldiers of the party, at a day's seminar on "Understanding the Fundament= als of the Ghanaian Economy" for party faithfuls drawn from the Ashanti, Bron= g Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

The Institute of Multiparty Democracy and the Institute of Economic Affairs funded the programme, which is aimed at equipping party members w= ith the requisite tools to enable them woo souls to the PNC for victory in 20= 12.

The topics discussed included communication skills, tools for politi= cal party mobilization, and the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy. Mr. Morna said a PNC-led government would put in place pragmatic and=

affirmative measures to ensure that the economic and social needs of Ghanaians were met.

Mr. Mona said "Since 1992, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have managed to fulfill the political aspects of governance, but have failed to meet the economic and social needs of the people.

"The PNC when given the mandate either in 2012 or at any time that Ghanaians would "divorce" the NDC and the NPP to vote for the PNC, would mark the beginning of better things to come, to improve the living standards of Ghanaians," he said.

He said when governments come; they only use acronyms such as the Northern Development Fund (NDF) and the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), as some forms of deception to amass votes from the nort= h. Mr Mona however urged the NDC government to fast truck the implementation of the SADA He asked members of the party to meet political leaders 'squarely' w= hen they talk of the economy, saying, "Policies over the years are not geared=

towards alleviating poverty in the country, particularly the Northern sector. Only the PNC can close the development between the north and the south, because the NDC and the NPP woefully failed to do so." Mr. Zakaria Alhassan Gundaa, Northern Regional Chairman of the Party= , called on the party's leadership to distribute party resources equitably to ensure that those at the grassroots level participated in reforming the P= NC into a more formidable party capable winning power.

He commended the Institute of Multiparty Democracy and IEA for supporting the party, and that the exercise would help the PNC to move forward and stand at a good position in the December 2012 elections. Professor Kumi Ansa Koi of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, indicated that Ghana was never a poor country= , but rather its people were poor because they failed to use the resources judiciously. He said countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore had no natur= al resources like Ghana, but its people managed to use the few resources available to make the people and the countries rich. 8 Nov. 098