Mills Not Fit• Gladys Asmah Fires

THE MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi, Mrs. Gladys Asmah has stirred the waters by commenting on the health status of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, saying he is unfit.

According to her, most Ghanaians who had come face-to-face with the law professor as well as those who had seen him on television were expressing doubts as to whether the NDC flagbearer would have the strength to steer the affairs of the nation when given the nod.

She alleged that Prof. Mills was not in a good condition to travel all over the country to campaign, which was why the NDC had put former president Jerry John Rawlings at the forefront of its campaigns.

The Takoradi MP claimed that the NDC had planned to make Rawlings play a major role in its government so Ghanaians should not make the mistake of voting the NDC back to power.   

She explained that the kind of atrocities Ghanaians went through under the Rawlings-led Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime which metamorphosed into the NDC, coupled with the party's poor economic policies during its eight-year rule were enough reasons for the electorate to reject the NDC totally.

Mrs. Asmah was speaking at a mammoth rally organized by the Takoradi constituency of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to officially introduce Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah alias Koby, the parliamentary candidate for the constituency in the upcoming polls to the constituents.

She told the electorate to consider the various human-centered policies implemented by the ruling government and reciprocate by voting massively for the NPP flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and all the party's parliamentary candidates for the continuity of the government's good policies.

Mrs. Asmah who is also the Minister for Fisheries noted that her outfit had started the construction of 14 fishing harbours and a number of cold stores to enhance the fishing business of people living in communities along the coast.

“This initiative and many others had created jobs for a lot of people in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis and I hope that with the discovery of oil in the Western Region, patronage of goods and services in the metropolis will be high and thereby create more jobs for the people,” she observed.  

She commended the electorate in the Takoradi constituency for standing solidly behind her throughout her tenure of office as MP for the area and called on them to offer the same support to Koby to clinch victory on December 7, 2008.

Mr. Darko-Mensah, on his part, remarked that the number one position of the NPP on the ballot paper for the December 7 polls signified that the NPP would win the general elections.

He noted that his major priorities when given the nod would be the creation of morejobs for the people and improvement of the level of education in the area.

He promised to assist entrepreneurs within the constituency to access part of the over GH¢1 billion loan that would be set aside by the next NPP government for business men to expand their businesses.

He added that he would work hard to ensure the establishment of a university in Takoradi to curtail the problems some students from the area go through to gain admission into universities.

The Western Regional secretary of the NPP, Mr. Kwentsil Sam, indicated that Ghanaians were better off under the NPP government and that the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme, the capitation grant and the school feeding programme among others had improved the standard of living of the ordinary Ghanaian.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi