The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked the people of Upper East Region to punish the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Mahama for taking them for granted in spite of the massive electoral support they received from region in previous elections by voting them out of power.

The National Organizer and the acting General Secretary of the NPP, Mr. John Boadu made the call in Bolgatanga, when the branch of the party in the region presented a list of failed promises by President Mahama.

In the run-up to the 2012 general elections, President Mahama and the NDC had promised to revamp the Northern Star Tomato Factory at Pwalugu, revamp Zuarungu Meat Factory, construct Bolgatanga-Bawku road, construct a regional hospital and construct an airstrip.

But as it stands today, none of these promises has been fulfilled, barely five months to the 2016 general elections.

According to NPP executives in the region it was, therefore, not surprising that President Mahama postponed indefinitely his visit to the Upper East Region, which was slated for June 6 2016, because there were no projects for him to commission, as he did in other parts of the country he earlier visited.

The postponed visit was part of the President’s ‘accounting to the People’s tour’, after he had already toured some regions.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with party executives from constituency and regional levels, Mr. Boadu said considering the enormous electoral support the NDC has received from the people of the region over the years and the fact that the party has failed wholly to develop it, the electorate should punish the NDC in the upcoming election by voting them out.

“The NDC government over the years, because they get a lot of the votes from this region in particular and other few regions – the Volta Region, the Northern Region and the Upper West Region, they turn not to pay particular attention to this region, knowing very well that since he (President Mahama) campaigned on the fact that he is a northerner, and he must be voted for, then of course if he is seeking for another mandate, he will go on that tangent, and the tangent of tribalism to ensure that he renews his mandate.

“I think that it is something that the people of Upper East Region must punish the government for, in order for them not to take them (people) for granted by voting massively against them, both at the parliamentary and presidential level.

That is exactly the kind of punishment I want the people of the Upper East Region to mete out to the NDC and especially to John Mahama, for taking them for granted”, John Boadu told the people.

He stated that the kind of failed promises by the President and his party were things they could do, considering the kind of resources that have come their way.

“The massive taxes over the years, the borrowing they have done over the years, the SADA– Savannah Accelerated Development Authority resources that have come their way, I think this is something that is not beyond them at all”, he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Mr. Donatus Akamugri, NDC Regional Secretary, in an exclusive interview with this reporter stated that the postponement of the President’s visit was largely due to other busy schedules and not due to claim by the opposition NPP that the president could not visit the region because there were no projects for him to commission.