Accra, Oct. 2, GNA - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday said it would establish Savanah Development Fund, which would take care of the development needs of the Northern sector of the country.

Mr. John Dramani Mahama, running mate to Professor John Evans Atta Mills, flag bearer of the NDC said under the Fund, agriculture would be revamped, education would be stepped up and the environmental health of the people would receive paramount attention. He said education remained the tool of overcoming poverty, disease and squalor and that the NDC would support the University of Development Studies (UDS) and would strengthen Islamic Education Unit both of which the NDC had established.

Mr Mahama said it was sad that the UDS, which former President Jerry John Rawlings donated 50,000 dollars to, as part of his international award has its medical faculty collapsed. He said the acclaimed economic gains of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has not trickled down to benefit the greater majority of Ghanaians.

Introducing himself to the Council of the Muslim Chiefs, Imams and head of Zongo communities in the Greater Accra Region, Mr Mahama said every Ghanaian deserved to have a decent living and should not be predicated on the handouts from the rich. He said; "the rich under the President Kufuor administration are becoming richer and the poor poorer.

"It is sad that President Kufuor should call Ghanaians lazy people when his government is unable to create the environment to enable them to get the tools to work with."

He said the belief that when wealth is in the hands of a few, they could establish industries or create avenue for the employment of the poor was a hoax and that, in a developing country such as Ghana, the adoption of such policies had delayed the rapid redistribution of wealth.

It was this belief that had made the NPP's political philosophy of property owning democracy to generate much poverty and has led to the re-emergence of guinea worm, higher child mortality rate, which were drastically reduced during the NDC era. He urged the Muslim Council to ensure that peace prevailed during and after the election, adding; "we are all one people and Dr Bawumia who is now a running mate to Nana Akufo-Addo, flag bearer of NPP is my brother; we all grew together and we used to escape from our parents to go and play football." Mr. Mahama said "the NDC would win the election and would not accept any confusion to give room to our opponents to molest us."