You are here: HomeNews2003 07 07Article 38707

General News of Monday, 7 July 2003

Source: GNA

Rawlings says NPP will be defeated through ballot box

Wa, July 7, GNA - Former President Jerry John Rawlings on Sunday celebrated his own 20th anniversary of the creation of the Upper West Region with a political rally attended by thousands of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at the Wanwang Park at Wa. The rally was also used to launch the new NDC membership cards aimed at re-launching and re-energizing the party for 2004 general election. The region, then part of the former Upper Region, was created in 1983 by the then Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government of which Flt-Lt Rawlings was the Chairman. Last month the Region officially celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Region, which the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama attended as the guest of honour.

Former President John Rawlings said the NDC had no interest in unseating the government through unconventional means, and reaffirmed the party's total commitment to the growth of the country's young democracy. He called on members and supporters of the party to make sure that they register when registration of voters starts in September. Former President Rawlings called on President John Agyekum Kufuor to give meaning to his slogan of zero tolerance for corruption by empowering the people to help in the fight against canker.

Former President Rawlings said the government failed to act on several Serious Fraud Office reports on corruption in the government. He accused the government of stifling well-meaning critics of the government to the point that, there was only one voice in the country now and that was that of the government. Dr Josiah Aryeh, General Secretary of the NDC, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, former Defence Minister and the seven NDC members of Parliament from the Region spoke at the rally and credited the former PNDC/NDC governments with the level of development in there.

Speaker after speaker repeated that it was the erstwhile PNDC and the NDC governments that extended electricity from the national grid to the Region, opened a University and polytechnic, created additional districts, and significantly improved the water, health, education facilities and the road network in the Region. They said they were not happy that the NPP government had failed to show a mark of respect to the Former President for what he did for the Region by not extending an official invitation to him to attend the anniversary. Dr Aryeh launched the cards and called on all members and supporters of the party to patronise them, saying, "that is the only way membership of the party can be determined".