David Alan Painstil & Magdalene Sey
25 August 2008
Cape Coast — The Presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, on Friday blazed the campaign trail at Twifo Praso, Twifo Hemang, Jukwa, Jukwa Krobo and Wawase, all in the Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira District, and drawing crowds as he moved.
As his long campaign convoy travelled from Cape Coast to the smaller towns, children and adults alike reciprocated the Kangaroo dance along the road, as Nana Akufo Addo and his campaign team did the dance in the various vehicles that they were travelling in.
The convoy finally stopped at Twifo Praso, the district capital, where a rally was held at the Methodist School Park. Addressing enthusiastic party supporters, who had turned up in their numbers, Akufo Addo said, "NPP is still strong in the Central Region and those who sit in Accra and say the party is dead in the region must come and see things for themselves."
He promised to build a US$35 million ultra-modern Hospital for the people of Twifo Praso, when given the nod to rule the country, to which the crowd largely applauded. The crowd also cheered at his announcement of the news that President John Agyekum Kufuor was scheduled to inaugurate a hydro-electric power generation project in the area, in October.
The next stop for Nana Addo was Hemang where he addressed party supporters. He expressed satisfaction with the level of the reception that he and his entourage received and appealed to them to vote for NPP so that they will use proceeds from the oil to develop Ghana by providing free secondary education, improved school feeding programme and review the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). He said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was working hard to come back to power because of the oil find, and impressed on the supporters not to allow the NDC to come to power by voting them out.
Mr Alan Kyerematen, Nana Addo's fierce contender at the December 2007 NPP delegates congress, called on Ghanaians to vote for Akufo-Addo because he was the best man to unite the country.
Yaw Osafo Marfo and Kennedy Agyepong among others, who addressed the large crowds urged the people to vote massively for the NPP.
The Central Region, however, appears poised to crown Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, the NDC Presidential candidate. He has been able to visit most of the deprived communities in the region from Assin North, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) and Asikuma-Odoben Brakwa (AOB).
He drew large crowds at all the places that his team visited, with some old women placing their clothes on the ground for him to walk on, as sign of acceptance of the law and economic Professor.
This time, the people openly declared their support for their own man whom they rejected in 2004. The youth welcomed him with enthusiasm at almost all the places he visited, with drumming and dancing, and displaying portraits of Prof. Mills. Moreover, the Elmina Township went gay at the weekend when the NDC stormed the ancient fishing city with their campaign, as the whole place went agog when Prof Mills and his entourage went on a procession through the principal streets of the municipality with their "I care for you" message.
Addressing the chiefs and people of Edina Essaman in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality, after the procession, Prof Mills asked the people not to indulge in violence before, during and after the general elections. He explained policies of the party to the general public.
Prof Mills, who grew up in the area, told the people he was aware about their suffering and promised to work hard to improve their conditions when given the nod.
Prof. Mills also stirred the massive crowd at a rally at Breman Bedum in the AOB constituency and told the people that a vote for the NPP will definitely move the nation forward in drug trafficking. "The nation will develop in corruption, cocaine exports, deceit and economic hardship if the ruling NPP was retained in power," he said, drawing large applause.
According to Prof Mills, the NPP will use the "we are moving forward" slogan, which actually means the bigwigs in the party were growing in wealth, to further plunge the country into serious economic hardship for another four years, if they are not voted out of power in the December elections.
He noted that the country's image has been tainted with the increasing drug menace and corruption and wondered what the NPP meant with their "moving forward" slogan, when the country was in a total mess.
Prof. Mills emphasized that there was no way he was going to depend on former President Jerry John Rawlings for guidelines to rule the nation, as being speculated by NPP, maintaining that he was his own man and had his team to take Ghana to the level it deserved.
He added that the opposition was talking about ex-President Rawlings as if he was the worst nightmare of Ghanaians, when he has indeed contributed to the country's achievements.
"I have served for 25 years as a lecturer, eight years as IRS commissioner, four years as vice President and served as a United Nations Tax expert, and yet people are saying I cannot rule this country. On this same basis, how can Akufo-Addo, who served as a mere Attorney General and Foreign Minister, rule the nation better than I can?" he questioned the people, who shouted "Ka ne nyinaa," meaning- say it all.
He urged the people not to be deceived by the vile propaganda of the NPP or they will suffer again. Prof Mills promised to be a President for all Ghanaians and will not discriminate against any group of people, be it political or ethnic.
The youth went agog when he further promised to create more jobs for them when given the nod as President. Prof Mills was accompanied by all the parliamentary candidates in the region's constituencies, and the national executives such as Ama Benyiwa Doe, Ato Ahwoi, Yaw Boateng Gyan, among others.
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