NDC Declares Candidate For New Juaben South

Mr Ransford Owusu Boakye, an official of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has been declared the parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for New Juaben South in the Eastern Region by popular acclamation.

That was after his sole competitor, Mr Johnson L.K. Tettey-Kpe, had voluntarily withdrawn from contesting the primary and publicly declared his support for Mr Boakye.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Boakye expressed his profound gratitude to the delegates and the rank and file of the party for the confidence reposed in him.

Outlining his vision, he pledged his commitment to the establishment of a premier university in Koforidua to ensure that tertiary education would be more accessible to the youth, as well as the provision of basic education for school-age children in the area.

That, he noted, would help to equip the young ones with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the municipality.

Mr Boakye bemoaned the lack of a pragmatic youth development programme to enhance the human resource development of the country and gave the assurance that he "will work hard to develop various programmes, including an endowment fund, to support the youth to venture into various income-generating activities such as information and communications technology, as well as food production”.

For his part, Mr Boateng, who highlighted the various development projects which were undertaken by the previous government in the area, such as the construction of roads, houses and other social amenities, debunked allegations that the youth who were currently engaged under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) would be dismissed if the NDC came to power.

"As part of our youth employment policy, we will institute proper youth employment programmes that will see the young ones earning enhanced salaries which will be collected from banks," he added.

He, therefore, urged the people to vote massively for the party to enable it to wrest power from the New Patriotic Party to continue with its development agenda.

For his part, Mr Gyampo urged the rank and file of the party to be vigilant during the elections to prevent rigging by the NPP, adding that "in no way should we sacrifice our future for the little money that the NPP will doll out to influence our conscience".

He also called on those who had attained 18 to register in their numbers when the voters register was re-opened in May to enable them to exercise their franchise.

Mr Gyampo (left), the Eastern Regional Secretary of the party, declaring Mr Owusu Boakye unopposed to the gathering.

Story by Nana Konadu Agyeman