National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia has described the New Patriotic Party (NPP) members as animals.

According to him, the NPP has since 1992 presented 'animals' to the electorate of the Atiwa Constituency in the Eastern Region and that those 'animals' end up winning the pools, adding that it is no surprise the area is still underdeveloped.

Asiedu Nketia, aka General Mosquito said this at the NDC rally which was organized to climax the Party's month-long campaign for the Atiwa parliamentary seat. He said the NPP has over the years said that Atiwa is their stronghold so even if they present an animal decorated with the Party's flag, the people of Atiwa would vote for it.

Meanwhile, District Chief Executive (DCE) of Atiwa, Hon. Atta Twum, has jumped to the defence of his party's General Secretary, saying Mr. Nketia made the statement just to make fun and not to insult anybody.

In an interview with the DCE on the morning of the Atiwa polls, he confirmed that Asiedu Nketia made that derogatory comment. Hon. Twum, who was the NDC candidate for the Atiwa seat, said his Party's General Secretary did not mean to insult any political group but passed the statement as a joke. "It was just a joke on the part of Mr. Nketia so the media should not make much noise about it," he stressed, adding that it was no secret that the NPP always bragged that Atiwa was their stronghold so even if they present an animal, they would win. "This is a common phrase usually used by the NPP here to demonstrate that they have absolute support in the area, so nobody got offended when Mr. Nketia also said it," he pointed out.