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Regional News of Friday, 28 May 2004

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NDC To Cause Stir In Ashanti

The Ashanti Regional Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Akwasi Abayie, has stated that the party will cause a stir in the region during the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary polls.

He therefore called on the supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the region to disabuse their minds of the notion that the region was their stronghold, adding that the NDC would split the votes in the region.

In an interview, Mr Abayie said that ?the structures and preparation the NDC has put in place and made so far are an indications that the NDC will make a major breakthrough in this year?s elections.He was confident about the fortunes of the NDC in Ashanti and based his optimism on the view that the NPP had failed to deliver on its promises and most of its followers were now joining the NDC.

Mr Abayie said the party had strategised very well and, therefore, with the material and human resources at hand, there was no way the NPP could overrun the NDC, as was the case in the previous elections.?The claim by the NPP that the national coffers was empty when it assumed power is false. The NDC left a credit balance of ?1.3 trillion in the government account at the Bank of Ghana,? Mr Abayie alleged.

According to him, as much as $300 million had been also left in the external reserves, adding that ?900 billion had been deposited at the Ghana Commercial Bank to be used for the opening of letters of credit for the importation of oil.

Mr Abayie said the attempts by the NPP government to paint the erstwhile NDC regime as corrupt and inefficient had been exposed following the abysmal output of the Kufuor administration