MCE urges Northern Politicians to form a common front

Nyankpala, (N/R), Nov.12, GNA- Mr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, has called on citizens of the Northern Region to form a common front to fight for a fair share of the national cake to develop the North.

He said poverty was endemic and alarming in the three Northern Regions and there was the need for an affirmative action to alleviate it, adding: "This is a legitimate request, which needed the government's attention".

Mr. Adam was speaking at the inauguration of new members of the NPP's Tertiary Education Students' Confederation (TESCOM) of the University for Development Studies (UDS) at Nyankpala on Saturday. The Mayor of Tamale said the time has come for Northerners to shun their political and ethnic considerations and pool both human and material resources to complement government's development efforts.

Mr. Adam suggested the reformation of institutions in the North to allow the active participation of communities in the decision making process.

This would enable the people to make their voices heard on issues that affect their daily lives and aspirations for the government to address.

He urged Northerners to wake up from their political slumber and change their mindset as to which political party they would want to follow. " Let us assess the policies and programmes of the various political parties in the country and see the one that best suit our interest and aspiration and stop our habit of following political parties as mere nominal supporters", Mr. Adam said.

Mr. Boniface Gbambilla, Upper East Regional Minister, urged the TESCOM members to study the geo-politics of the region very well and work hard to turn the fortunes of the party round in the 2008 polls.

He admitted however, that even though the people created part of the poverty situation in the area, political causes such as bad planning and military takeovers had contributed immensely to their predicament.

Mr. Gbambilla said politics had now become scientific and called on the people to look at the political variables, analyse what would happen, the benefits and causes and make an informed choice as to where to belong.

Mr. Issahaku Amidu Chinnia, TESCOM President, commended the government for initiating prudent economic and social policies that were impacting positively on the lives of the people.

He mentioned the National Health Insurance Scheme, the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme as some of the interventions that had helped to reduce burden on the people.

Mr Ohene Asare Clement, a former Propaganda Secretary of TEIN in UDS, in a solidarity message, said the government must give credit and recognition to the NDC administration for laying a solid and sound infrastructure in the country before it handled over power to the NPP.

He however, commended the government for deepening the democracy in the country, but said the refusal of the Electoral Commission to declare the 2006 election results was a serious constitutional slip, which needed to be addressed.