Reconcile President and predecessor - NRP

Kumasi, Nov 29, GNA - Opanin Kwame Afreh, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the National Reform Party (NRP), has called on the Council of State to take steps to reconcile President Kufuor and former President Rawlings.

He described the utterances of the former President as "highly inflammable", which needed action to defuse any tension and rivalry between them to ensure peace and stability in the country. The Ashanti Regional Chairman also called on the Christian Council, the National House of Chiefs, the Moslem Council, the University Councils and the Catholic Bishops Conference among other bodies to assist the Council of State.

In a statement issued in Kumasi on Saturday, Opanin Afreh said efforts must be made to ensure that the government was not disrupted in implementing its programmes and policies.

" So far the Kufuor-led NPP government has kept faith with the people of Ghana and this rapport should be sustained for the good of Ghanaians," he said.

He said the President had shown maturity and proved to the whole world that he was the father of the nation and must be supported to ensure good governance.

The NRP activist praised President Kufuor for the recognition he had accorded the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his family and moves to reconcile the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) by the electoral alliance whereby the NPP had not fielded parliamentary candidates where CPP already had one.

The visit to Nkroful, the birthplace of late Dr Nkrumah by the President recently and the honour of passing the night there was a record yet to be broken by any Ghanaian leader and this gesture had to be reciprocated by all true Nkrumaists.

Opanin Afreh called on the opposition parties besides the NDC to team up to form a third force in the country's politics since Mr Rawlings had declared openly that he was not an Nkrumaist.

He noted the CPP "elements" within the NDC was destroying the "Nkrumah family" and called on Mr Ebo Tawiah, Mr P.V. Obeng, Professor George Hagan, Mr Freddie Blay, Mr Kwesi Armah, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom and elders of the family to ensure unity within it.

He also called on parties including the PNC and the NRP, which claim Nkrumaist roots to strengthen moves towards building two political traditions, the NPP and the CPP) for future elections.