Wa East MP calls for healthy rivalry among political opponents

Wa, Jan. 16, GNA - Mr Godfred Bayon Tangu, the NPP Member of Parliament for Wa East, has appealed to NDC members of parliament from the region to conduct their political activities in the region with the spirit of brotherhood and respect for their political opponents. He said the present trend where they come down from Accra to tell lies about the government and its appointees and take credit for the achievements of the government in the region just to score political marks would no longer win votes for them in the next elections.

"Voters in the region are discerning and having seen good governance, they will reject the NDC and its candidates in the region in the next elections".

Mr Tangu said this at a rally organized by the Wa Central Constituency of the NPP at Wa to respond to some issues raised by the seven NDC MPs from the region at rallies and news conferences organized by them as part of their recent outreach programme. He said if the progressive performance of the NPP in the last two general elections was anything to go by, that is from 15 per cent of the votes in 2000 to 32 per cent in 2004, then the people were seeing through the lies of these MPs and would eventually reject them in 2008. On the Bole-Bamboi road, which has been a focal campaign issue for the NDC in the region, Mr Tangu said for 26 years the road had been under construction and wondered why the NDC failed to construct it when they had that opportunity for 20 years.

The last portion of the road, which is the Tinga/Bamboi stretch, has been awarded on contract and the NDC MPs ought to commend the government for that instead of always using the road as political weapon at every given opportunity.

Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Abubakari, Upper West Regional Chairman of the NPP, said he was reading jealousy in utterances of NDC functionaries in the region because the NPP had done in six years what the NDC failed to do in the region in its eight-year rule.

He said if the voters would judge the various political parties by their achievements by way of provision of achievement, no NDC candidate would win a seat in the next general elections. On behalf of the party he welcomed 24 NDC members who defected to the NPP, saying in NPP there was no discrimination between old and new members and all those who were contemplating leaving the NDC should feel free to join the NPP.

Alhaji Sumani Bankunyeli, leader of the defectors, said they were not enticed by anybody to leave the NDC but were motivated by the good record of the NPP and wished to be part of the success story of the party.

"We toiled day and night to keep the NDC in power and all some of us had as reward for our toil were four pieces of handkerchiefs to wipe out my sweat, which I have kept in the house as a monument of NDC's ungratefulness". 16 Jan 07