NDC poised to win votes in Ashanti Region — Agyekum

Story: George Ernest
Asare, Kumasi
06/03/08

THE Opposition National Democratic Congress ( NDC) is poised to win massive votes in the Ashanti Region in the presidential elections and also win not less than 10 constituencies in the region.
This will position the party to win both the presidential and parliamentary elections in December.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC, Mr Daniel Ohene Agyekum, who stated this during an interview with the Daily Graphic, pointed out that members of the party were not leaving anything to chance in their quest to win the December general election to bring quality leadership to Ghanaians.
“Ashanti is a difficult terrain for the NDC but times are changing very fast, and the electorate have become very conscious about their interest and would, therefore, not allow any politician to take them for granted anymore,” he stated.
He said that the NDC was positioning itself for the battle ahead to win the required seats because the atmosphere was very conducive.
“We are a very sensitive and caring party and ready to relieve Ghanaians of the difficult plight that they now find themselves in,” Mr Ohene Agyekum declared, adding that “we are democratic and have demonstrated over the years that we are a party with the philosophy to precisely take care of the youth, as well as the masses in the various rural communities”.
Mr Agyekum said the NDC had concentrated on developing projects like power, potable water, good roads, and recreational facilities that would improve their lives during the party’s reign, and is poised to bring quality life to Ghanaians again, when the party assumed power next year.
Mr Ohene Agyekum pointed out, “The NPP is boasting undertaking so many development projects, but the question is, they accused the NDC of wasting resources on the same development projects to the rural communities; so do we now chew roads and consume classrooms, just as they asked us?” He questioned.
“The truth is that, now Ghanaians are living under very difficult economic conditions, and so the improvement of the macroeconomics like the low interest rate and downward movement of inflation that have become the slogan of the NPP government do not translate into income to fill the pocket of the ordinary worker in any way and improve their living standard,” he added.
Mr Ohene Agyekum cited the escalating prices of fuel, especially kerosene, petrol and gas, as perfect examples of the hardship that farmers, the small-scale industrialists, as well as the common worker that the NPP claimed to protect were facing, which made making it very difficult for them to make ends meet.
He said the problems that Ghanaians had gone through since the NPP took over the reins of the country eight years ago were such that the citizens were not prepared to offer the party another chance to toy with their lives.
He said already, the NDC had started electing parliamentary candidates in all the orphan constituencies in the region and were following it up with the other constituencies to position the party for the December elections.
Mr Ohene Agyekum pointed out that of the 39 constituencies in the region, the NDC had only three sitting Members of Parliament “ but we are going to shock the NPP by taking not less than 10 in the December election, and also win massively in the presidential election to catapult us to victory to govern the affairs of the state next year,” he noted.
He said the party would complete the election of their parliamentary candidates by the end of March to enable them start active campaigns to sensitise the electorate to the need to reject the NPP government and return the NDC to power to enable the party initiate policies and programmes that would restore their dignity as Ghanaians, and also empower them economically to take their destiny into their hands.
He said as part of their plans to win the elections, the NDC had started training their foot soldiers to build their capacity to enable them become very vigilant before, during and after the elections to prevent any form of rigging.
“ A party wins or loses elections at the constituencies, branches or polling station levels, so if the party is unable to protect and defend its integrity at these levels, then it is doomed and needs to forget about the elections, so from the experience we had in 2004, we are strengthening the capacity of the foot soldiers to prevent any rigging”, he explained.