A vote for Mills is a vote for Rawlings -Dr. Napo

THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the Manhyia constituency, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, says there is no distinction between the so-called new National Democratic Congress (NDC) under Prof. Mills, and the dictatorial rule of the party under former President Rawlings.

He has therefore warned Ghanaians not to vote for the NDC, since their comeback would be suicidal for the country's democratic and socio-economic gains, achieved under the ruling NPP.

Addressing party supporters at two separate rallies held at Krofrom and Alabar, both in the Manhyia constituency, Dr. Prempeh noted that Ghanaians could not afford to gamble with the peace and freedom they were currently enjoying, by reverting to the era of the atrocious and oppressive rule of the NDC.

“Know that between Mills and Rawlings nothing has changed, a vote for Mills means a vote for Rawlings' comeback,” he warned.

He stated that at a time that the flagbearer of the ruling party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was travelling across the length and breadth of this country, inspiring hope in the people and campaigning on issues and ideologies, Prof. Mills, and his partner, ex-President Rawlings, continued to use lies, insults and intimidations in their desperate attempt to win back power.

He said Prof. Mills' repeated mention of Kenya, and the ex-President's surreptitious meeting with former security officers, amply defines the true nature of the NDC and their frantic moves to recapture power, adding that “Mr.Rawlings appears to have missed the days when he single-handedly took the nation hostage and inflicted pains on Ghanaians, particularly those who dared oppose him.”

Dr. Napo, as he is popularly referred to, stressed that the memories of intense hardship, coercion and the repressive rule of the NDC government, still remained indelible in the minds of many Ghanaians, and that there is no way Ghanaians would prefer to experience it again.

“I believe a lot of discerning Ghanaians still remember how ex-President Rawlings, with Prof. Mills as his vice, ruled this country without giving the people the needed peace and freedom to express themselves, silencing people into political coma, while imprisoning some prominent media men in the country who were very critical to their administration,” he stated.

The NPP parliamentary candidate said, however, that through the meticulous and inspiring administration of the NPP, under President Kufuor, a lot of Ghanaians had regained faith and confidence in the political affairs of this country, and had come to realise that the NPP was the only party, which held the key to the total economic liberation of this nation.

At Alabar, which is predominantly a Muslim community, Dr. Napo lashed out at the NDC government for relegating the development of Zongo communities to the background, even though it enjoyed maximum support from the people, adding that “the opposition party was responsible for the relatively deplorable state of Northern communities, because they betrayed the loyalty and trust of the people.”

He, therefore, called on the Zongo communities to consider the numerous achievements of the NPP, which he said, had impacted positively on their lives, and vote for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to enable him sustain the laudable developmental programmes put in place by the Kufuor-led administration.

Dr. Napo stressed that the NPP flagbearer had proposed the establishment of a billion cedi Northern Development Fund, and also promised to use some of the revenue that would accrue from the oil exploration, to ensure massive transformation of the three Northern regions, in order to bridge the developmental gap between the North and the South.

Dr. Napo, in another development, has charged members of the Tertiary Education Student Confederacy of the NPP, to sustain the ruling party's positive campaign, in order to ensure a resounding victory for the party.

The NPP parliamentary candidate for the Manhyia constituency, who threw the challenge during the inauguration of the Komfo Anokye Nursing and Midwifery College branch of the TESCON, stressed that the positive achievements of the NPP needed to be trumpeted adequately to the people, to enable them make a clear distinction between the lies and dirty propaganda that had characterised the NDC's campaign, and that of the positive message of the NPP.

He noted that one of the main problems of the ruling party had been its inability to sell its achievements to the electoral populace, a development which, according to him, had given voice to the opposition NDC to fill the vacuum with falsehood and misinformation.

According to him, it was very unfortunate that the student wing of the party, which was once a major mouthpiece of the NPP in reaching out to majority of Ghanaians, seemed to have neglected its critical role to the success of the NPP.

Dr. Prempeh pointed out that the ruling party's achievements, such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), and unprecedented infrastructural and economic successes, must be amply publicised, in order to win the support of floating voters.

He said within eight years of the NPP administration, the number of intake of students admitted nationwide to pursue courses in nursing, had jumped from 946 in 2000 to 7,000, while upgrading the college from a certificate to Diploma awarding institution, adding the percentage of the braindrain in the health sector had reduced drastically, because nurses in the country were well motivated and better conditioned.

He further stated that the health sector had been improved, with the establishment of 250 new hospitals and 18 computer science laboratories, within a spate of seven years, and said these modest achievements give enough evidence of the NPP government's ability to transform the destiny of the country, when given the opportunity next year.

Other members of the party, who addressed the students at the inauguration, included the parliamentary candidate for Subin constituency, Mr. Isaac Osei, Bantama Constituency Chairman, Mr. Henry Kokofu, and a member of the NPP Communications Directorate, Mr. Richard Mensah Ofori Atta.