Unlike Abdoulaye WadeNo sympathy votes for Mills... NPP Chairman declares
THE UPPER East Regional 2nd Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kizito Akayomse has indicated that the NPP could not afford Prof John Evans Atta Mills the slightest opportunity to enjoy what he described as “repetitive sympathy” of Ghanaians come 2008 elections.
“I'm saying this because Atta Mills is coming for the third time and that repetitive sympathy should not go to him”, he stated, observing that in real life, people sometimes tended to eventually sympathize with somebody who had tried an event severally without success by lending such person their support.
He cited the case of President Wade of Senegal, whose electoral victory came on the fourth time he contested after being defeated for three consecutive times.
“But here in Ghana, we cannot allow Atta Mills to go with that kind of repetitive sympathy”, he swore. Mr. Akayomse said this at the student forum organized by University of Development Studies (UDS) Navrongo Campus branch of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of NPP.
He noted however, that it behoved the members of the party, especially the youth and TESCON for that matter, to ensure that consolidated power come 2008. The 2nd Vice Chairman was of the view that any politician who neglected the youth could never win power in this country and urged the members of TESCON to always keep the flame of commitment with inducement burning.
He said given the splendid performance of the NPP government so far, the opposition parties had no other option than to agree, “President Kufuor has no equal.” The Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) Mr. Mohammed Amin Anta, presenting a paper on the “jubilee budget” said NPP's prudent economic policies and programmes had improved the financial status of the country.
He told the forum that the NPP government inherited empty coffers as a result of the NDC's mismanagement of the country's economy and resources, which enriched few at the expense of the poor majority.
Mr. Anta said all the numerous economic policies and interventions the country witnessed under the NDC's regime brought nothing but untold hardships to the people of this country.
Delivering a paper on “Youth In Politics”, Emmanuel Chegeweh popularly known as 'Focus', emphasized that the youth was an important segment of the society, adding that it was in recognition of this that every political party or organization established youth wings to champion and promote its course.
He recalled many instances where the youth in this country and the world over, whether under democratic or autocratic governance, had and was still contributing to development of the society.
For this reason, he said, the youth ought to be properly groomed to undertake leadership roles in the future, indicating that that could be achieved through imitation of role models.
Mr. Kofi Amponsah Stephen, the TESCON President for UDS Navrongo Campus, in his welcome address mentioned the high level of illiteracy and ignorance as a major threat to the country's onward democracy and development. He noted that there was a gap between information and the lack of it and that had often been filled by vice and scathing propaganda.
He said while people were gradually witnessing the transformation of their communities, the opponents were telling the people that they were suffering under the NPP government and this he believed had resulted in the confused indecisive state of the electorate. He therefore urged the members of TESCON and the youth in the party to endeavor to counter the propaganda of the opponents and tell the success story of the NPP since its assumption of power.
The Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Navrongo Campus of UDS, Prof. Kaku Nokoe who chaired the forum urged all the student wings of the various political parties in the campus to jointly organize educational debates that could bring prominent politicians on a common platform to deliberate on matters r topics of importance.