Wahala demonstrations, to put govt on toes

Bolgatanga, July 9, GNA - The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has stressed that the purpose of the CJA demonstrations held in the regions were not to antagonize the National Patriotic Party (NPP) but to remind it that it has failed to redeem Ghanaians from economic hardships.

One of the leading members of CJA, Mr. Asiedu Nketia made this observation at the weekend in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region when the CJA undertook it's sixth demonstration in the Region.

He pointed out that the rationale behind the Wahala Demonstrations was to hold President J.A Kufuor accountable for the failure to fulfill his promises to Ghanaians, saying the NPP government indicated it would reduce rice importation by one third of its first tenure but woefully failed in this direction.

Mr. Nketia, who was a Member of Parliament for Wenchi West emphasized that the Presidential Initiative on Cassava has also yielded nothing, pointing out that the government now import cassava from Cote d'Ivoire.

Another leading member of the CJA, Mr. Opesika Aggudey impressed upon Ghanaians to examine the hardships they were facing and vote the government out of power, come the next election in 2008. He stressed that the NPP government who preached against corruption was now deeply involved in the evil practice.

The NDC Parliamentary Chief Whip, Mr. John Tia expressed concern that the huge sum of monies the NPP government intends using in to register Ghanaians outside the country could be used to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians.

The NDC Acting General Secretary Mr Beddze Zedeng, on his part stated that the intention of the NPP government to register Ghanaians outside for 2008 is to rig the election, stressing that the NPP has realized that it was becoming unpopular and would not win the election in 2008.

The Wahala Demonstration in the Bolgatanga Municipality saw thousands of people from all walks of life with placards some which read "disappointed government, negative change chapter two, so far so worse, say no to hardship, our families cannot get one square meal a day." Security forces were brought from Tamale, Kumasi and Accra to beef up security situation.