NPP On Mass Mobilisation Exercise As NDC Youth Defect

Kpone (G/A), 4 June The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is turning the party to a mass movement in areas where it did not do well the 1996 general elections. In line with this objective, the party executive met with a cross-section of the youth of Kpone in the Kpone-Katamanso constituency "because it realises that the youth is a force to reckon with if any party is to win elections in Ghana.'' Nana Akufo Addo, MP for Abuakwa, who addressed the meeting said Ghana needs a change and the organisation which will bring an effective change is what Ghanaians must look out for.

Nana Akufo Addo said it is only Ghanaians who can bring about the change required by taking courageous political decisions, adding that, the successful meeting with the youth of Kpone, known to be a stronghold of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), is a first step towards achieving positive results. At the meeting, some 30 youth who said they had defected from the NDC, complained about water problems in the township, lack of vocational training centre to further their education, unemployment and pollution of their environment by industries located in the area.

In last December's presidential elections, the NDC won 8,249 votes while the NPP had 2,357 votes in the constituency. Mr Jake Addo, a leading member of the NPP in Tema, stressed the need to breathe new life into the party through the youth who will pursue the cause of the party with new tactics in consultation with leaders.

He said the NPP has the duty to spread to every constituency and establish itself as a strong force, saying that in most places the party only exists in name and its flag. What must be done is to gather the youth and spread the party's love to them no matter their political affiliation, Mr Addo added. Mr Ishmael Addotei Addo, NDC propaganda secretary for Tema East who announced his defection to the NPP, stressed the need to prepare Nana Akufo Addo as the president of Ghana in the year 2000. Mr Addo said he had defected to the NPP with some 250 NDC activists.