Let's help EC make biometric registration exercise fruitful-Akwetey

Mr Bright Akwetey, a presidential aspirant of Convention Peoples Party (CPP), on Friday appealed to Ghanaians to cooperate with the Electoral Commission to make the biometric registration exercise a success.

According to him, the registration exercise would help eliminate election fraud and as such the law must deal drastically with individuals whose acts would tend to thwart the smooth implementation of the exercise.

Mr Akwetey was interacting with journalists in Sunyani as part of a 10 day campaign tour of the northern sector of the country to get acquainted with and to woo constituency and regional executives for their votes at the party’s impending national congress.

He called on the leadership of political parties to avoid insults and intimidation but rather focus on the welfare and development of the citizenry.

“A safe environment for the security and safety of the people must be created to remove fear and anxiety among the people so that they can move about freely to perform their daily activities”, the Presidential aspirant said.

Mr Akwetey noted that both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had failed Ghanaians in their promises “since governance is all about seeking the welfare of the people”.

Ghana is endowed with minerals and other natural resources and the citizenry must not necessarily suffer, but mismanagement by the two parties has brought about poverty and hardship on the people, he stated.

According to CPP Presidential aspirant, graduates were not getting employed after university education, as well as other school leavers, who end up in the streets, engaging in all forms of criminal activities.

“If the Youth who are the country’s future leaders are on the streets without their talents being developed, then how will the future of the country look like? He asked.

Mr Akwetey stressed that, the unemployment situation in the country had worsened because the government “has sold all state industries, including Ghana Airways, Gold fields Ghana Limited, and is even preparing to sell Agricultural Development Bank”.

A government that does not care about what the people eat, their education and health, is not governing well, he said; and gave the assurance that the CPP would take over to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.

Mr Akwetey noted with concern that “people do not even have a place of abode and end up sleeping in front of people’s shops with their little children at the mercy of the weather.

“The progress of a country must be measured by the living conditions of the people”, he said, adding “if investors only invest in Accra, the problems of the country can never be solved because the real situation on the ground is in the hinterland”.

He asked Ghanaians to ignore the NPP and the NDC and vote for CPP which candidate had the welfare of the people at heart and could help improve their lot.

Mr Ameyaw Kyeremeh, Brong Ahafo regional chairman of the CPP, asked the executives to remain loyal and committed to the Party in order to bring it to power as it had peculiar features that no other party in the country had.

He urged the executives to strive hard to ensure that the party got at least 10 Parliamentary candidates in the December elections.**