Hackman declared unopposed

Effiduase-Koforidua, Aug. 1, GNA- Minister of the Interior, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, was on Sunday declared unopposed as NPP parliamentary candidate for the New Juaben North seat in the December elections. All the 55 delegates at the constituency primaries at Effiduase-Koforidua, endorsed his candidature under the supervision of the officials of the Electoral Commission.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Owusu-Agyeman commended the delegates for the endorsement, which he noted, was in appreciation of services he provided in the area. He said it could not be denied that notable development was on-going within the New Juaben Municipality since the government assumed office, citing roads, water, education, community centres and libraries, adding that all these projects were part of promises he made during the electioneering campaign.

Mr Owusu-Agyeman announced that the contract for the rehabilitation of the Oyoko town roads had been signed while work was going on to raise the Oyoko Methodist Agricultural Secondary School into one of the model schools at the cost of over 16 billion cedis. He assured the people in the area that the Kufuor administration and the NPP would never disappoint them, saying that the NDC "is only opposing and criticizing us out of sheer jealousy over what they failed to do for 20 years." Mr Owusu-Agyeman presented eight bicycles to the constituency branch of the party and a set of brass band instruments donated to him by a friend to the town.

The Eastern Regional chairman of the NPP, Nana Adi Ankamah, cautioned any political party planning to create chaos in the country if it failed to win the December elections, to desist from that and emulate the NPP in 1992, by writing its version of the "Stolen Verdict". He asked the electorate not to forget the 20 years of suffering under the PNDC rule. The chairman reminded residents of the municipality to the deteriorating infrastructure that was their lot before the NPP assumed power and compare it to the ongoing development projects before casting their votes.

Present were the Minister of Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Felix Owusu Agyepong the Minister of Employment and Manpower Development, Mr Yaw Barimah and Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah.