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General News of Tuesday, 5 November 2002

Source: Evening News

Our way or the highway - NPP to Opponents

The NPP has advised its political opponents to either join hands with the government to develop the country or to shut up and allow the government to carry out its laudable policies and programmes.

“It is better for you to join us in the crusade to make Ghana a better place for all or to keep quiet”, Mr. Lord Commey, National Organizer of the NPP cautioned.

He was speaking at the launch of a new NPP identity card at Wa in the Upper West Region.

He said under the NPP administration Ghanaians are living in peace and have the freedom to express their feelings, adding “the suffering of Ghanaians is the making of the NDC”.

He explained that the peace the NDC was enjoying today was because of the tolerance and humble nature of President Kufuor.

NDC owes nation apology

Bolgatanga (Upper East) -- The National Democratic Congress (NDC) owes Ghanaians an apology for making them unduly under its 20 years of mismanagement of the economy, Lord Commey, National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has stated.

He was addressing a public forum organised by the NPP at Bolgatanga on Tuesday as part of his two-day tour of the Upper East Region. Commey said the NDC had no moral justification to seek the mandate of the people to come to power in the year 2004 after plundering the economy and mismanaging the country.

He said Ghanaians are now enjoying the wind of positive change that the NPP administration promised them and, therefore, they would not like to return to the “terrible rule of the NDC.” Lord Commey reminded Ghanaians that in fulfilment of the NPP’s promise for the rule of law, all citizens were free to express themselves on all national issues without fear of intimidation.

He said Ghanaians had the right to choose which of the political parties in the country to follow so as to realise their aspirations of improved living conditions and that was why they voted for the NPP to realise their dreams.

The national organiser gave the assurance that Ghanaians would never regret the confidence they reposed in the NPP because it is determined to make life more bearable and peaceful, as already being experienced by the people.

Mahama Salifu, the Regional Minister, said since assumption of office about 22 months ago, the government has lived up to its pledge to turn the economy around and to better the living standards of the people. He mentioned in particular the stabilisation of the value of the cedi and its efforts to develop the region in the health, education and telecommunication sectors.

The Minister announced that since the year 2000, the NPP had been able to execute 59 projects with support from the European Union in the provision of schools, infrastructure, health facilities and telephones while six SSS in the districts were to be upgraded.

Salifu also disclosed that the Bolgatanga-Bawku commercial road would be reconstructed and tarred at a cost of ?3bn beginning from this year while a new Nurses Training College had been established at Navrongo to train nurses to make up for the short fall in the nurse-doctor population ratio.

Rockson Ayine Bukari, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, was happy to note that there was now peace and unity, which augured well for rapid socio-economic development and pledged that the NPP would never let the people down.

During an open forum, there was general consensus that there was no unity among the rank and file of the NPP in the region especially among the executives, DCEs and the Regional Minister. The participants, therefore, called for a change of attitude if the party was to gain more votes in future.

This perception was, however, debunked by the Regional Secretary of the party, A. Koyiba, who described the relationship between the top hierarchy of the party in the region as very harmonious and said that regular meetings were held to move the party’s fortunes forward.