JAK's Road Projects Weakening NDC Support

THE PRESIDENT, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor's policies and programmes in the Eastern Region, precisely Koforidua, are weakening the support base of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

A subject of discussion in Koforidua currently is the state of the transportation infrastructure for automobiles. The goal is to upgrade all substandard roads in various communities. One on-going project is the rehabilitation of the road that services the Koforidua Government Hospital (KGH) junction in front of the NDC regional office. This road has the reputation as one of the worst roads in the municipality. What makes it an important concern for the community is for twenty years the (P)NDC never rehabilitated or repaired the road. This matter has become a propaganda tool against the NDC, as it is an often discussed issue for the community.

The Chronicle became aware of the seriousness of the matter when this reporter passed by to crosscheck a story at the NDC regional office. Spending quite sometime to inspect the rate of work done so far, the paper observed that the trenches for the drainage system had already been dug and waiting for concrete and grading to provide surfacing for smooth driving. The NDC regional office, where a large number of officers were seen working for almost 24 hours a day before the last general elections, was closed as at 10.30 am. A newly erected campaign poster of the defeated NDC flag bearer in 2000 elections, Prof. J. E. A. Mills, was spotted on the notice board. There was no poster of Dr. Kwesi Botchwey; that may suggest the Eastern Regional branch of the NDC is in support of Prof. Mills against Dr. Kwesi Botchwey.

A surveillance conducted by the Chronicle quite recently shows that most of the NDC offices have closed down. Reasons, the paper gathered, were that the party offices have been in arrears, while some of the NDC bigwigs in the constituencies are being carried away by the good policies of the present NPP government. Other party offices of the PNC, Reform and CPP were found closed down. A letter signed by the NDC regional youth organizer, Kwame Tawiah Boateng, charged all ward chairmen to re-organize their structures, which seem to have broken down due to political activities going, as he termed it.