Economic state of Ghanaians worse off

Kumasi, Aug 23, GNA - Alhaji Sani Mohammed, a member of the Ashanti Regional Executive, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of imposing economic hardship on Ghanaians.

He said the rising cost of school fees; utility bills and mass unemployment were ample evidence of the poor state of the economy. Alhaji Mohammed was speaking at the launch of the Asawasi NDC Constituency campaign for Election 2004 at the weekend.

He said the decision by the Government to embrace the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, had compounded the woes of Ghanaians, since funds received under the initiative had made no significant impact on living conditions.

Mr Salifu Boarle, Constituency Secretary of the Party, appealed to the electorate to vote on principles and issues and not to allow monetary or material gifts to influence them.

Dr Gibiril Adamu, The NDC Parliamentary Candidate, for the area, said he had launched a house-to-house campaign to educate people about the Party's manifesto.

Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC, said Ghanaians had learnt a bitter lesson from the deceit of the NPP and no amount of pledges and propaganda could make the Party win Election 2004.