NPP supporters urged to guard against violence

Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Deputy Minister for Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI), has called on supporters of the NPP to carry themselves in a manner that would not brand the party as a violent one.      Addressing the All Nations University College and Koforidua Polytechnic branches of Tertiary Education Students Confederation (TESCON) and supporters of the NPP in Koforidua on Thursday, Ms Botchway stressed that the NPP was not a violent party, adding "and we will resist any tag of violence put on us".      She called on supporters of the party to disabuse their minds that the December elections was "a do and die affair" since the good works of President John Agyekum Kufuor would convince the people to vote Nana Akuffo-Addo to continue with the foundation laid.      The Deputy Minister remarked "we have contested elections since 1992 through to 2000 when we came to power and even in opposition in those times we did not fight nor use violence, why would we then resort to violence today that we are in power".      Ms Botchway, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija, is on the campaign tour of the wives of the NPP Flagbearer and the running mate, Mrs Rebecca Akuffo-Addo and Mrs Samira Bawumia respectively, in the Eastern region to canvass votes for the NPP to retain power in the coming elections.      She charged the TESCON members to be real ambassadors of the party by spreading the message of the good governance of the NPP in the last eight years, to ensure that they retain power in the coming elections, since that would determine their future as students.      Mrs Bawumia told the students that the "nomination of my husband as the running mate is a manifestation of the Flagbearer's trust in the youth" and called on them to reason along that line and work hard for the NPP to retain power for their own good.      She said the Flagbearer of the NPP and his running mate were honest and hardworking people who had excelled in their chosen fields and had the expertise to move Ghana to a middle income status level based on the foundations laid.      Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, a former Minister of State and parliamentary candidate for New Juaben North, said the polytechnic students should remember the infrastructure provided for them by the NPP government and vote for the party.      He urged them to work hard to win 80 percent of votes in the region because Nana Akuffo-Addo came from the area.      A representative of TESCON, Ms Adwoa Enimil, appealed to party members to support them to be able to do the work expected of them and declared that despite the challenges "we promise to work hard to ensure an 80 percent win for the NPP in the region".     She said TESCON members were convinced that when Nana Akuffo-Addo was given the nod, he could deliver on his promises considering the caliber of his running mate and the hard work done by President Kufuor. GNA