Veep makes surprise appearance at inter-party youth forum

Ho, Aug. 23, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Sunday made a surprise visit to interact with youth activists of the four main political parties attending an inter-party workshop at Ho in the Volta Region.

The participants unaware of the Vice President's visit became perplexed when he suddenly entered the conference venue at the Chances Hotel. Moments after, the participants, who were members of the youth wings of the National Democratic Congress, the New Patriotic Party, the Convention People's Party and the People's National Convention burst into spontaneous cheers as they relished the moment of the unscheduled visit of the Vice President around 1300hrs.

Addressing them, Vice President Mahama charged them to serve as vanguards in safeguarding the stability of the nation. He said he wanted them to become the "social shock absorbers" of the country by ensuring that dialogue was the preferred avenue for settling disputes rather than the resort to violence. Vice President Mahama condemned acts of vandalism perpetrated by some youth in the NDC against their perceived opponents and called for all such attacks to be stopped forthwith.

He said Ghana must not develop a "vicious cycle" whereby a succeeding government would be expected to sack all operatives of the previous regime.

He said performance should be the yardstick in judging whether appointees of the previous regime were given the sack or otherwise. The Vice President, however, endorsed the termination of appointments of public servants, who have openly demonstrated partisanship in their offices.

He said Ghana remained enviousness to many African nations, and as a result, it was incumbent on the youth to safeguard the democratic dispensation using approved methods in expressing their disapproval of issues.

He said a strict following of this principle would ensure that Ghana does not plunged into the kind of mayhem other nations had fallen into.

A Presidential Aide and a Youth leader in the NDC, Mr Ludwig Hlodze, said the visit of the Vice President would serve as a big boost to the efforts of the various youth wings to promote unity among themselves.

Mr Emmanuel Wilson, Youth Organizer of the People's National Convention, said the Inter-Party Youth Committee meeting was to serve as a platform of generating ideas in support of the development agenda of the country. He said the youth have a stake in the political direction of the country such as promoting peace and tabling ideas that could bring about improvements in the life of the people. 23 Aug. 09