Wa, Dec. 10, GNA - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is sure to win the presidency with a wider margin in the round off, Mr Sulemana Jimba, Deputy Secretary of the Wa Central Youth Working Committee of the NDC said.

He said President John Agyekum Kufuor won the 2,000 election in a round off and this time round, the conditions were ripe for the NDC to also win the presidency in a round off.

Mr Jimba was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Wa following the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan's declaration that neither the ruling party nor the opposition secured enough votes to win the election outright. Dr Afari-Gyan said both the New Patriotic Party and the NDC presidential candidates received below 50 percent of the vote and called for a round-off on December 28 as mandated by the Constitution. Mr Jimba said Ghanaians had desired for a change in the last four years of the NPP administration because of the bad economic policies of the government.

He said likewise the NDC, other political parties like the Convention People's Party (CPP) and the People's National Convention (PNC) had also in their campaign messages asked for a change. "This is now the time for the three parties to come together and effect the change that Ghanaians had been waiting for," Mr Jimba said. Mr Jimba said the Youth Working Committee was going to organize a meeting and map out strategies and canvas for more votes for the party to win the presidential race.

He appealed to supporters of the NDC to remain calm and conduct themselves in a civilised manner as they did before, during and after the elections to sustain the peace in the region. Mr Jimba asked the supporters to intensify their campaigns especially in the rural communities to win more votes for the NDC to bring development and progress to the people. The Wa East Constituency Chairman of the NPP, Mr Bawa Abu, on his part, told the GNA that the executives of the party in the region would do their home work well to win more votes for the party. He said judging from the development record of the NPP, Ghanaians would vote massively for an NPP president to continue with its development agenda. Mr Abu was optimistic that the CPP and the PNC would give their support to the NPP in the presidential race. The Wa Municipality was however calm and peaceful with people going about their normal businesses. 10 Dec. 08