Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has finally broken his silence on government’s decision to purchase five planes for the military, describing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as “people who have no shame.”

“The NDC has no shame…they vehemently opposed, criticized and protested against our (NPP) decision to purchase only two planes for the same military but immediately they assumed office they said they were going to purchase not even two but five…can you imagine?” he asked Ghanaians.

President Kufuor was speaking at his residence in Accra when the Traders Union of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from Kaneshie Market called on him to congratulate him on his World Food Programme Award.

He said the deal the NPP entered into in efforts to retool the military was the best for the country adding “in our time the cost of one plane was around $39 and $40 million but theirs is around $55milion which can’t even be compared to ours.”

“The NPP’s plane could travel from Ghana to New York non-stop. It could use six hours to London, Germany and other places. The NDC’s has to stop in the middle of the way,”

“In our time, the NDC’s propaganda was that Ghanaians were suffering and things were hard…these conditions they claimed were their reason for opposing the purchase…have they changed now…it is still the same if not worse.”

On the Jubilee House (Presidential Palace) which the NDC has reverted name to the name Flagstaff House, Mr. Kufuor said “it is their (NDC’s) hypocrisy which is making the Mills/Mahama government hesitant to use the facility.”

“When we were constructing the facility, the NDC attacked our government and my personality and even went to the extent of saying they will use the place for poultry farm and it is because of the bad things said about the project that they are feeling shy to use it.”

On the politics of insults, the former President Kufuor advised the NPP not to get involved but rather address issues and not personalities.

He said he did not subscribe to the menace adding that it was a very dangerous trend. “Where we have reached as a country, we need sensible argument on issues not on personalities and insults.”

He recalled how NDC bigwigs like Alban Bagbin, Tony Aidoo and Ama Benyiwa Doe went on an insults spree and making unsubstantiated allegations against him and his appointees and succeeded in throwing dust into the eyes of the good public.

“We should not let them drag us into their politics of insults or join their gutter politics. Don’t forget that if you have a notorious sibling, you would always be inundated with trouble but it is up to you to keep your head above the water.”

He said the NDC’s style of politics during the NPP regime was counter-productive to the nurturing of democracy and development saying “our opponents were obstructing every good thing we were doing without justification.”

He said the NPP brought laudable social intervention programmes like free maternity health care, national health insurance, school feeding programme, mass transportation programme, impressive infrastructural projects and the model schools concept but the NDC is collapsing all of them.

“We are happy that most Ghanaians are now aware of the NDCs tricks and could not been easily be deceived.”

When Daily Guide asked him when he would hit the campaign trail, Mr. Kufuor said “I have already joined the campaign trail. I am always there and I am very much involved but in a different strategy. In fact Nana and I are constantly in touch.”

“I give him advice and he takes my advice. I want to assure you that Nana’s chances are bright. I am confident he will make a good candidate in 2012.”

Members of the union took turns appealing to ex-President Kufour to use his vast experience to admonish the NPP leadership to foster unity within the party.

Yaw Sekyere, Chairman of the union said the AMA guards were making life difficult for ordinary traders and appealed for restraint.