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Rawlings advice Ghanaians to unite

Sat, 20 Mar 2004 Source: GNA

Keta, march 20, GNA - Ex- President Jerry John Rawlings, on Friday at Keta advised Ghanaians not to allow the deep-seated political divisions in the country to sow seeds of hatred, fear and conflict among them.

He said multi-party democracy was a platform for the people to share divergent ideas in governance of the country.

Ex-President Rawlings was addressing a durbar, organised by the chiefs, National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters and the people of the area in his honour.

The former President received a heroic welcome at Alakple, where he visited the mother of his late Bodyguard, RSM Tetteh, Anloga and Viepe near Aflao, where he commissioned a new office of the Ketu-South constituency of the NDC.

A durbar at Dzodze, where a teeming crowd had gathered to welcome the former president was rained off.

Addressing a durbar at Keta, the Ex-President accused the New Patriotic Party government of employing propaganda against the NDC and confusing the people so as to entrench itself in power.

He said the NDC would come back to power to teach the NPP the civil way of governance.

The former President asked Ghanaians to end the NPP rule which according to him was characterised by corruption, intimidation, high cost of living and suffering adding that "do not allow them a day more than necessary".

He appealed to the people to register in the on-going voters' registration exercise and that they should to not be swayed by lies and tricks being peddled aimed at preventing them from registering.

The Ex-President said he was impressed by work so far on the Keta Sea Defence Project and that the people had a brighter future. He asked them to exploit the potentials the Sea Defence Project to create wealth for themselves and the state.

Ex-President Rawlings also asked them to grow trees in the reclaimed land to make the environment habitable and warned them not to allow dubious investors to invest in the salt industry in the area.

Mr Dan Abodakpi, Member of Parliament for Keta, said the government's propaganda, intimidation and persecution had so far failed. He said if there was fairness in the trials against him, he would come out a freeman.

Mr Abodakpi said the PNDC and NDC took Ghanaians far from the days when even teachers, Bank workers and civil servants left this country, due to the difficult living conditions at the time, following the collapse of the economy and when infrastructure was nothing to write home about.

Source: GNA