Economic situation would have been worse under NDC - Apraku

Tamale, June 23, GNA- A leading member of the NPP has stated that the current economic hardships facing the people as a result of the global rise in the prices of oil and food would have been worse under an NDC government.

Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, the National Campaign Director of the NPP flag bearer, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said: "In 2000, when the NDC was in power, the country was facing similar hardships but the government of the day did nothing about it". Dr. Apraku was inaugurating an 18-member Northern Regional campaign monitoring team in Tamale on Monday.


The team has Mr. Roland Alhassan, a former Ambassador to Germany under the Busia Administration, as Chairman, with Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing and Alhaji Malik Alhassan Yakubu, MP for Yendi, as some of the members.


Dr. Apraku said unlike the NDC, the Kufuor administration had readily come out with a number of measures to cushion the effects of the high food prices on the people, adding: "This is a caring government". He said the track record of the NPP government over the last seven years was there for all to see and that was why despite all the propaganda against it there had continued to be a resurgence of support and enthusiasm for the party by the people.


Dr. Apraku said the social intervention policies introduced by the NPP government such as the School Feeding Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and the Capitation Grant had endeared the party to the people.

He said with the discovery of oil, the future prospects of the country were bright and that was why the NDC was desperate for power. He cautioned that should power be entrusted to them they would not only mismanage the oil revenue but would also send the country back to the "dark days of PNDC rule".


Dr. Apraku said the work of the regional campaign team would be complemented by zonal and constituency campaign teams and urged the members not to see themselves as parallel structures but work in concert to ensure the victory of the party in the December general election. He urged the team to be vigilant and take the voters registration exercise serious when it was re-opened and ensure that all eligible voters were registered.


"If we work in unity and with a common purpose, there is no way the NDC can defeat us", Dr. Apraku told the NPP supporters. Alhaji Addo, the Regional Chairman of the NPP, stressed the need for unity within the party and urged both members and supporters to throw their weight behind the party's flag bearer to win a resounding victory at the polls.


Alhaji Idris, the Regional Minister, appealed to NPP supporters to be law-abiding and carry out their campaigning with decency and decorum.