War drums are meant to be beaten ? Gen Mosquito

The Member of Parliament for Wenchi West, Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketsia emphasized that war drums were meant for beating and since President Kufuor and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) had manufactured them, he and others who were being accused of beating war drums would do just that.

Hon. Nketsia, popularly called General Mosquito was reacting to NPP claims that Prof. J.E.A. Mills, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Alban Bagbin were beating war drums.

The MP said this at a durbar organized in honour of the former President, Jerry John Rawlings, at Bechem when he embarked on a three-day working visit to the Brong Ahafo Region.

According to him, the NPP government?s attitude towards the Yendi crisis and its alleged subsequent molestation of the people in the North, was an example of the drums manufactured by the NPP government.

Hon. Nketsia, touching on the government?s announcement that the country had reached HIPC completion point, said all the government was saying were lies.

He said the NPP government was only throwing dust into the eyes of the people, by claiming the country had benefited by joining the HIPC.

He said the government wanted to associate itself with a foreign organization and that organization had given them the condition not to be part of the HIPC group, hence the decision of announcing that the country had reached the HIPC completion point.

According to him, the country had not benefited anything from the HIPC, because the International Monetary Fund?s (IMF) relief of $100 million per year was less compared to the $300 million the country had borrowed and, as he said, there still remained a debt of $200 million on the country.

On projects with inscription of HIPC benefit, Hon. Nketsia said it was regrettable that the government was doing that because the NDC never labeled any project from either VAT or GETFund as benefits from them.

Former President Rawlings also lamented that the NPP government, despite its declaration of rule of law and democracy, still terrorised the people up north.

The ex-President said the NPP had made people lie on the ground in the north looking into the sun, which according to him was very dangerous to their health.

He told the gathering: ?looking at the training given to soldiers and police in the country, they would never allow themselves to be misused by the NPP and that was why the NPP has embarked on the training of party police to salvage their activities during the elections.?

He stated that people who described President Kufuor as ?gentle giant? were mistaken because Kufour is very wicked and does not care about the plight of Ghanaians.

Other speakers included the parliamentary candidate for Tano South, Owusu Agyeman, Ohene Agyekum, and I.K. Adjei Mensah, deputy minority leader in parliament.