Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP)

Dr. Obed Asamoah, Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), has suggested to the constituency executives of the party to try as much as possible to adopt the concept and principle of consensus building to elect members of parliament for their constituencies.

He said the concept was to prevent disputes among the rank and file of the executives and supporters in the constituencies and promote unity and harmony at the grassroots levels to canvas for more votes for the party in the 2008 elections.

Dr. Asamoah made the suggestion at a meeting with regional and constituency executives of the DFP in Wa after a two tour of the region, organizing party structures and also to introduce the presidential candidate of the party, Mr. Emmanuel Ansah Atwi to the executives.

He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was desperate for power and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was also afraid of victimization and this was why the DFP was formed to arrest the situation and bring a lasting peace to Ghanaians.

He therefore appealed to women and the youth not to feel intimidated or afraid of the risk of politics, but to come forward and embrace the DFP to change the culture of politics of lies, vilification and half-truths in the country.

The DFP would give more leadership roles to women and the youth to unearth their potentials, if given the mandate to rule the country in the December 7 general elections.

Dr. Asamoah advised supporters of the DFP to talk on issues, values, policies and programmes and avoid following the habits of bad politics, pointing out that politics must respect religious values, principles, actions and attitudes.

On the agriculture, Dr. Asamoah said poverty was high among many farmers and gave the assurance that the DFP, if voted into power, would tackle the problem through the provision of subsidies on agricultural inputs as well as finding of markets for their produce.

He lamented that Ghana depended on imports to sustain its people due to over liberalisation of the market, resulting in the collapse of local industries and creating high unemployment in the country.

The DFP would embark on an “agricultural revolution” that would make farming attractive for the people and produce more to feed the nation and for export.

Mr Ansah Atwi, presidential candidate of the DFP, said the approach adopted by the NDC and NPP administrations to eradicate poverty had been wrong.

He said both parties had done lip service to the agriculture sector, which had been identified as the mainstay of the country's economy

He said the DFP would introduce a green revolution on agriculture to eradicate poverty through the construction of dams and subsidising agricultural inputs

The DFP administration would also use the Agricultural Development Bank and rural banks to register farmers to benefit from government credit support to increase food production.

Mr Ansah Atwi noted however that for Ghanaians to benefit from the good policies and programmes of the DFP, there was the need for the maintenance of peace in the country, especially during this electioneering year.

He appealed to all political parties to preach peace to the people during their campaigns to ensure that the December 7 elections were violent free.

Source: GNA