NDC commends NPP

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Wednesday commended President Kufuor's administration for continuing the programme of barrack rehabilitation, which the previous government had started.

Mr Alban Bagbin, NDC Minority Leader told a press conference at Parliament House, "indeed the 10 million dollar Chinese government facility being used for this programme was negotiated by the then Vice President Professor J.E.A. Mills during his official visit to China in the year 2000."

The NDC held the conference to dwell on the two years of NPP administration, which they described as a litany of broken promises and shattered dreams ... Minority perspectives.

On a paper that touched on almost all the operations of the government from the economy, law, discipline, security and politics, Mr Bagbin said the Minority took note of the government's effort to improve the mobility of the Ghana Police and also increase the number of police personnel but urged that the recruitment exercise should be conducted in a transparent manner and not be used as an opportunity to recruit party loyalist and activists, some of whom might be unqualified.

On security, law and order, Mr Bagbin said, the Yendi massacre of March 27, last year, was perhaps one of the Ghana's most tragic incidents arising from the total collapse of law and order culminating in the gruesome murder of Ya-Na, Yakubu Andani II.

"Government's handling of the crisis has left a lot of doubt about its status as an honest broker in Dagbon affairs. Other disputes like the Peki-Tsito, Alavanyo-Nkonya, Kokomba-Basare, and numerous chieftaincy conflicts have erupted all over the country in the short period of Kufuor's administration."

He said Bawku has also over the two-year period experienced eruptions in a simmering chieftaincy dispute and on both occasions with tragic consequences and that the dispute like the Yendi one remained unsolved.

"There was anger and frustration over the President's apparent failure to visit both communities when the problems occurred," he said.

Mr Bagbin said despite commendable efforts of the security services to stem the tide of the wave of armed robbery that swept the country in the early days of the NPP's tenure there was still widespread apprehension of breaches of the law and security particularly in the urban centres while holding of banks and shops in broad daylight, carjacking and ambush of market-bound vehicles on the highway were now added to the list of daring acts by criminals.