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Politics of Sunday, 24 February 2008

Source: GNA

Fear NPP when they come with money - Mahama

Walewale (NR), Feb. 24, GNA - Dr Edward Mahama, People's National Convention (PNC) Presidential candidate has advised the electorate to fear the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) when they come to entice them with money in exchange for their votes.
He said the tenure of President J.A Kufuor and his administration would come to an end in December this year and that Ghanaians should not repeat the mistake of 2004 and vote them to power to further worsen the economic woes of the country.
Dr. Mahama said these when he addressed separate durbars of chiefs and party members in Walewale in the West Mamprusi District at the weekend as part of a week's tour of the Volta, Northern, Upper East and the Upper West Regions.
The tour was to enable him to explain the party's manifesto to the people and to seek their mandate in the impending December elections. He said it was also to ensure that Ghanaians had a real positive change of governance under the PNC to provide them with their basic needs.
Speaking to members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) at Walewale, Dr Mahama pledged to partner with them to develop the lorry parks, which had been neglected over the years making the private transport sector un-conducive.
He said the NPP would have no success story to tell Ghanaians in this year's electioneering campaign apart from "using money to entice the people for votes" just as they did during their National Delegates' Congress in Legon last year and advised the electorate to resist the practice and vote them out of power.
Dr. Mahama indicated that a PNC administration would embark on an increased agriculture production linked with agro-based industries to ensure that jobs were created to address youth unemployment in the country.
He said the NPP's attempt to give some "degrading" amounts to households as means of ending poverty was a technique of vote buying and that would rather aggravate the poverty situation since many people would pretend to be poor in order to benefit from the package.
He used the occasion to explain to people how he started the "Road-To-Castle" journey with former President Rawlings and President Kufuor who all had their terms and was now left for him to rule the country.
The areas he visited included Yendi, Gushiegu, Nalerigu, Walewale, Wungu, Gbemsi, Wulugu, Guabuliga, Tinguri, Gbani and Kparigu all in the Northern Region. He had earlier visited the Volta Region where he shared similar sentiments with the people and asked them to vote massively for the PNC.