Give Mahama 100% – Portuphy tells NDC

Kofi Portuphy, National Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), has entreated all party members to rally behind and endorse President Mahama as the presidential candidate of the party during the November 7, 2015 primary.

President John Mahama, who is in the race unopposed, was on Wednesday cleared by the party’s national vetting committee to begin canvassing for votes throughout the ten regions.

According to Mr. Portuphy, the regions are witnessing unprecedented development under the two-and-a-half-year rule of President Mahama and for that matter, he was appealing to all party faithful to say “Yes! Mahama 100%.”

Mr. Portphy made the call when a party bigwig, Mallam Musah Mohammed from the Kwahu-Mpraeso constituency in the Eastern Region, stormed the NDC national headquarters on Wednesday to donate three double-decker deep freezers costing GH¢75,000.00 to the party.

During the presentation, Mallam Musah Mohammed posited that the gesture a demonstration of his love for the party.

The regional executives of the NDC had since last Thursday begun an outreach programme across the 33 constituencies of the region codenamed, “Eastern Region 100% Endorsement for John Mahama.” President John Mahama will today go to Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital, to address a mini rally.

The regional communication officer, Baba Koneh, addressing a press conference on Thursday, hinted, “We are pleased to inform you of the president’s visit to the region on 16 and 17 October, 2015. This forms part of the regional tour of the president to interact with members of his party towards the November 7 election.”

He said, “The region has received massive facelift in the road sector. The Suhum to Asamankese road is being constructed. Nsawam-Adeiso-Asamankese road is almost completed. Suhum and Asamankese township roads are under construction,” Baba Koneh claimed.

He continued to outline a number of projects he said had been executed under Mahama’s administration, among which are “a magnificent three-storey dormitory for Begoro SHS, Community Day SHS at Afram Plains North and South districts, Upper West Akyem District, Kwahu West district, which are almost completed; and numerous primary and JHS schools which have eliminated schools under trees in the region and a district hospital being constructed at Abetifi.”

Mr Koneh said these and the numerous life-changing developments are the reasons why the NDC had adopted ‘Agenda 50/50 – targeting 50% of the total votes to be cast in 2016.

However, the Eastern Regional executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have termed the visit of President Mahama to the region as “a visit to receive a ‘shameful’ 100% endorsement from his party for non-performance and incompetence.”

In a statement signed by the regional communication director, David Prah, he maintained that the people of the region will reject him come 2016.

According to him, the president and his government had done nothing in the region so he wondered what Mr. Mahama was going to tell the people regarding developmental projects.

“President Mahama and his NDC government cannot even supply chalk and log books to schools in the region, how much more provision of good roads, schools, hospitals, decent accommodation for workers, regular supply of electricity and water, among others,” he noted.

“We wish to state that all the social intervention programmes instituted by President Kufuor’s NPP government have collapsed or are being left to collapse in the region. The capitation grants are not being paid to schools, NHIS is not working properly, school feeding funds are being embezzled hence, collapsing the programme, Metro Mass Transit system is not working properly as it should, with frequent breakdown of buses, the affordable housing project for the region is still in the bush,” the statement underscored among other things.