The much-hyped constituency campaign launch, on Saturday, of Eastern Regional Minister Victor Smith, who is the parliamentary candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Abuakwa North, was largely attended by a rented crowd, mostly Senior High School (SHS) students from secondary schools in the constituency.

Some of the schools whose students were seen at the launch were AME Zion Senior High School, Adonten Senior High School, IPS and Only Believe Senior High School.

Heads of other senior high schools however politely turned down the minister’s request to allow 200 of their students to attend his campaign launch.

Some of the rented crowd also came from the other constituencies in the region where other parliamentary candidates and district chief executives mobilized supporters of the party to attend the launch.

The real indigenes of the constituency might not make up about 40% of the crowd and yet the regional minister expressed great satisfaction, saying, “I am very happy today and this shows how the people of the constituency have embraced the ‘Better Ghana Agenda’ and my message of total development for the constituency irrespective of where one is coming from.”

He said he would ensure that Abuakwa North becomes first in terms of development and be an example for others to follow.

“I will bring unprecedented development not only to Abuakwa North but also Abuakwa South because I am a true son of Abuakwa,” he said.

He took a swipe at former MPs of the Abuakwa area for failing the people and said the constituents should vote for him to bring the needed development to the area.

Former Minister of Health under the first NDC regime and a close friend of the Rawlingses, Samuel Nuamah Donkor, who was at the launch, pleaded with the people of the constituency to vote for Victor Smith and Prof Atta Mills.

Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister for Tourism, who turned up late at the launch with his red-shirted ‘army’ of ‘Friends of Baba Jamal’, told the rented crowd that the NDC was ready for the NPP in the December general elections, stressing, “This year we are ready to meet the NPP boot for boot”.

Daily Guide investigations indicated that organizers of the campaign could not marshal enough support from the Zongo areas because most of them were unhappy with the Atta Mills government.

According to one New Tafo Zongo resident who claimed to be a member of the NDC but now defected to opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), President Atta Mills had failed to fulfill the promises he made to them. He added that the partnership between Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia had made them believe that the NPP could easily identify with them and help them.

“When the NPP parliamentary candidate, J. B. Danquah, had a keep-fit exercise about two weeks ago from Tafo to Kukurantumi, most of us in the Zongo areas willingly took part to show our support for the NPP and the crowd which attended that keep-fit is about four times what we are seeing today even with our understanding that some of the crowd were transported from as far as Accra,” he said.