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17.11.2008 Elections

NPP "moving forward" is a motion into chaos - Mr Mahama

By GNA
NPP moving forward is a motion into chaos - Mr Mahama
17.11.2008 LISTEN

Mr John Dramani Mahama, vice presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Saturday said the New Patriotic Party's slogan of moving the nation forward would be a motion into chaos.

He said the slogan would lead the country into chaos because the force being applied to the object "move" was being misdirected.

Addressing the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the University of Ghana, Legon, Mr Mahama said for the NPP to use Parliament to sign international agreements, which only turned out to be a '419' transaction was immoral and an erosion of the nation's respectability.

He said the Volta Aluminium Company's (VALCO) sales agreement was bulldozed through Parliament recently only for those who were supposed to be the buyers to deny any knowledge of the agreement. "This is the extent to which the NPP was taking Ghana for a ride and moving it on a disastrous journey," he added.

Amidst shouts from the students, Mr Mahama said before the VALCO Agreement there was the IFC loan fiasco and CCNTI loan scandal, which made a mockery of the Ghanaian Parliament and was an affront to the sovereignty of the country.

Mr Mahama told the students to find out from the NPP government how the GETFund the NDC introduced was being used and noted that the judicious application of the Fund would have solved the loan, accommodation and textbook problems of all schools in the country by now.

He said the NDC in its manifesto had promised to build two universities in the Volta Region and the Brong Ahafo Region within its four-year term in office.

Mr Mahama asked the students to question those political parties that were promising to give one billion cedis' fund for numerous projects as to how they planned to come by those funds, adding "we politicians should not be the people, who destroy the moral fibre of society by giving them Utopian promises only to turn round to give them inexplicable excuses".

Ms Hannah Tetteh, NDC communication director, said the party remained a responsible opposition party and has never created any ungovernable situation that the NPP unleashed on the people of Ghana, when it was in opposition.

She said the very taxes that the NDC had introduced like the VAT, which led to "Kumepreko" and "Siemepreko" demonstrations were now generating funds that the NPP was using and claiming undeserved honours.

Ms Tetteh urged the students to ensure that peace prevailed, before, during and after the elections and that they should be vigilant at the polling stations and collation centres to prevent any cheating and unfair electoral practices.

Mr Iddrisu Harruna, Member of Parliament for Tamale South, said there would be peace if the Electoral Commission, the security services remained impartial in the conduct of the elections.

This, he said would make losers to accept their defeat honourably because the winner would have won through fair means.

Other speakers included Mr Fiifi Kwetey, Propaganda Secretary of the NDC, and Squadron Leader Clend Sowu, Chairman of the Dome-Kwabenya Constituency of the party.

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