Distinguish between politics and matters of national interest - Anane

Kumasi, Sept. 27, GNA - Dr Richard Anane, Minister of Road Transport, has called on Ghanaians to strive to appreciate and support government policies for accelerated socio-economic development instead of politicising them.

He said the citizenry should desist from misinterpreting matters of national interest since such attitude was an impediment to the nation's progress.

Dr Anane, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso, was speaking at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegate's congress of the constituency to elect executives in Kumasi on Monday.

The election, which was supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), saw the 71 delegates retaining all the nine-member executive posts with Mr George Kofi Adjei, Mrs Diana Love Opoku and Mr Thomas Gambrah retaining their post as chairman, first vice-chairperson and second vice-chairman respectively.

Messrs Dominic Pambour, Stephen Oti Appiah and Kennedy Kankam, retained their positions as secretary, assistant secretary and organizer respectively whilst Mrs Helena Adu Fofie, Mr Moses Kyei and Mr Onasis Bawuah also retained the post of women's organizer, youth organizer and treasurer.

Dr Anane expressed regret that the recent increase in fuel prices, which was a worldwide phenomenon and did not pertain to Ghana alone, was given a different interpretation by a section of the citizenry. He said it behoved Ghanaians to offer constructive criticisms and alternative means of enhancing the nation's development as the nation needed a multi-sectoral approach to achieve her aspirations.

He commended the government for opting for the HIPC initiative, saying, "even though many Ghanaians were sceptical about the initiative, the recent benefits, relief and debt cancellation that accrued from it had vindicated government's decision".

Mr Sam Cudjoe, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, cautioned party activists to desist from resorting to media war in addressing issues since the practice could derail the party's focus to win the 2008 election.

"Now that we have gained the mandate of the people for the second term, we must step up our activities and stop the internal wrangling to win the confidence of the people".

Mr George Kofi Adjei, the Nhyiaeso NPP constituency chairman, reminded the party faithful to bury their differences and work with unity of purpose to enhance the party's development. 27 Sept. 05