NDC cannot defeat NPP in Central Region - Essuman

Cape Coast, Sept. 29, GNA- The Central Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Albert Essuman on Wednesday said the launching of the national campaign of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Region would have no effect on his Party's victory in the Region in Election 2004.

He said, rather, the NPP was poised to win 75 per cent of the votes cast in the Presidential Election and eight more parliamentary seats, in addition to retaining the eight it already had in Parliament.

Mr Essuman, who stated this, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Cape Coast, pointed out that the NDC Flag Bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills lost the presidential elections in the Region during the 2000 elections, although he hails from there and said the story, will be no different, during this year's elections.

He said NPP "was moving forward", and that it won only three seats in 1996, added five more in 2000 and was confident of capturing the Gomoa West; Agona East, Heman-Lower-Denkyira; Mfantseman West and Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese Constituency seats from the NDC.

He said the NPP, which had already ceded the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) constituency seat to the Convention People's Party (CPP), was "likely to do well in the Awutu-Senya constituency and was making every effort to ensure that the Mfantseman East and Effutu Constituencies, which are considered NDC strongholds, were also won by the NPP.

Touching on the division within the Cape Coast Constituency branch of the NPP following the primary, Mr Essuman, explained, "such divisions were bound to come up at primaries when there is more than one contestant." But he gave the assurance that all differences would be settled, and the Party's members united, before the elections. "Nobody can defeat the NPP. It is only the NPP people who can defeat the Party through division," he declared and stressed the need for unity among all the members of the Party.

He debunked claims by some residents, including supporters of the Party, in the Cape Coast Township, the GNA spoke to, that the divisions within the Party had come about, because, the sitting MP, Ms Christine Churcher, who was re-elected to contest the seat during the primary, "was arrogant and disrespectful".