NPP would resist NDC intimidation - Nana Ntow

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said it would resist intimidation by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that has the tendency to frighten the electorate to vote it into power in the 2008 Election.

Nana Ohene Ntow, NPP General Secretary, said "The NDC wants to frighten people and force them to vote them into power forgetting that the time that people were not allowed to make their choice and vote for a party that they wanted is gone".

He was addressing NPP members at Gushegu on Tuesday, when an NPP delegation visited the town to assess the havoc caused to property by the recent clash between NPP and NDC supporters.

Nana Ntow described the NPP as a peaceful party and urged Ghanaians to resist the tendency by any party to frighten and force the people to vote it into power, to ensure violence-free elections in December. He claimed that the NDC had threatened mayhem if it did not win power in December.

Nana Ntow told the electorate that no one could stop them from voting for the NPP. He said "As a party it is not our policy to be violent that is why our flag bearer said no blood would be shed in the December elections". Nana Ntow called on the people of Gushegu to join the NPP, which he said would have a resounding victory in December.

Mr. Peter Mac Manu, NPP National chairman, who led the delegation, said if elected as president in December, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, NPP flag bearer, would build on the foundation laid by President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He asked Ghanaians not to allow the NDC to intimidate and prevent them from voting in December.

Mr Mac Manu called on the people of Gushegu to ensure absolute peace in the area.

He said the NDC was frightened by NPP rallies at Kasoa, Sekondi, Nalerigu other places, and was now resorting to violence. Mr Mac Manu appealed to all Ghanaians including members of the NDC to join the NPP, which he described as a peaceful, development-oriented and transformational.

He alleged that the trouble at Gushegu was started by the NDC and said that the NPP would ensure that those who started it were brought to book. Mr. Manu assured the people of their safety by the security agencies until there was absolute peace. The delegation earlier visited Kpatinga, near Geshugu, where the violence started, and said that the NPP would retain power and develop the area to transform the lives of the people.

Source: GNA

Politicians criticized on campaign messages

Mr. Kow Osafo-Kotu, National Best Fisherman for 2007, has appealed to political parties to come out with messages which could make the electorate, especially the fisher folks, to make informed choices.
     Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, Mr. Osafo-Kotu expressed regret that messages of insults and discrediting opponents, which the parties had been selling on their platforms, had been confusing the electorate.
     "What we want to hear is what the parties are capable of doing to uplift our living standards but not an offence or a mistake a party had committed in the past," the best fisherman said.
     He said governance was a continuous process and governments had been building upon the successes of their predecessors.
     "The present and past governments had achieved something for the nation and had also failed the nation in one way or the other," he said.
     Mr. Osafo-Kotu held that the success of a government could be traced to the good plans made by its predecessor so mounting a platform only to discredit a present or past government was nothing the electorate was happy about.
     He said confusion being generated in some parts of the country could be attributed to campaign messages and appealed to political parties to change their messages in order to ensure that they do not endanger the peace the nation is enjoying.
    "We want to hear something better than insults from them. They must also remember that the whole world is looking up to our election as a beacon of democracy in Africa so they need not fail Ghanaians and the entire world by their uncalled for campaign messages," he said
GNA