Agyemfra-Kumi stages a come back

Adawso(E/R), Oct. 4, GNA - The Akropong constituency branch of the National Democratic Congress(NDC) on Sunday, by popular acclamation, elected Mr Richie Agyemfra-Kumi, as its Parliamentary candidate for the 2004 December elections.

Mr Agyemfra-Kumi was the Member of Parliament(MP) for the constituency between 1992 to 1996 when he was lost in the 1996 primary of the party.

In his victory statement, Mr Agyemfra-Kumi said because a motor accident that he had during his tenure as the MP denied him the chance to fulfill all his plans for the constituency, he had decided to come back to provide the necessary leadership for the constituency to achieve what was due it.

He called for unity among the members of the party in the constituency to enable the party to win the parliamentary seat. Mr Agyemfra-Kumi recalled that in 1996, the party lost the seat with less than 100 votes and in 2000, it lost "with just two votes, both due to lack of unity", adding that "with unity, the party is assured of victory, come the December 2004 elections."

The Regional Organiser of NDC, Mr Tawiah Boateng observed that if the Government of New Patriotic Party (NPP) had fulfilled its 2000 electoral promises, the NDC would not have contested this year's elections.

According to him, when the NDC told Ghanaians that if the country adopted the HIPC initiative, workers salaries would be held down while prices of goods and services went up, the NPP Government made Ghanaians to believe that such a situation would never happen. Mr Boateng said, "now salaries of public servants which were increased for a month had to be slashed and nurses, teachers, judges and policemen are all threatening to go on strike."

He called on members of the party to embark on house-to-house campaign for the party to win the elections and urged all to go and check to ensure that their names were in the voters register when it is exhibited.

The Regional Secretary of the party, Mr Anthony Gyampoh, who was also the District Chief Executive of Akuapem North during the eight years reign of NDC, said at the time of leaving office, the District Assembly had plans to extend electricity to all the major communities in the district by 2001.

He said as at now, all the electricity poles acquired by the Assembly were still lying abandoned, adding, "This confirms the rumour we heard from NPP functionaries in the district that the electric poles that we were acquiring would be used for firewood."

He said during the 2000 elections, the NPP promised that when voted into office school fees would be reduced but now a Ghanaian would need 15 million cedis a year to read law and 40 million cedis to read medicine.

Mr Gyampoh said a future NDC government would provide free text books and exercise books and school uniforms to needy pupils in basic schools while it would absorb all the utility bills in second-cycle institutions to help reduce the cost of education.