NPP kicks off 2000 campaign

Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 28 Dec. '99 - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday kicked off its campaign for next year's elections with a call on its stalwarts to intensify the campaign in the Volta Region, the 'Zongo' and the rural communities.

Mr John Agyekum Kufour, New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Stressed that for the party to win the next elections convincingly, "it must concentrate and intensify its campaign in the Volta Region, the 'Zongo' and rural communities".

He, therefore, directed its campaign teams and supporters to "storm these areas with the party's message of hope and redemption" to enable it to gather the necessary votes to win the 2000 elections.

Mr Kufour was addressing a rally organised by the Sunyani East constituency branch of the party at Sunyani on Monday to kick-off its campaign for next year's general elections. He accused the government of worsening the plight of Ghanaians through mismanagement and asked the electorate to vote the NPP into power for "better standards of living".

The Member of Parliament for the constituency, Mr J.H. Mensah, said Ghanaians celebrated one of the most depressing Christmases because of the poor handling of the economy by the government. Mr Mensah, who is also the Minority Leader in Parliament, said the government's attempts at increasing the rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT) "is unjustified because it has not been able to manage judiciously the increased revenue that the new tax system has generated".

Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Member of Parliament for Afigya Sekyere west and minority spokesman on mines and energy, described the economic growth recorded by the National Democratic Congress as "bogus" in so far as this has not reflected in the pockets of Ghanaians.