John Mahama calls for peace

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) vice presidential candidate, Mr. John Mahama, has expressed the preparedness of his party to prevail upon its supporters to ensure absolute peace during the December general elections, as he urged the other political parties to do the same, in order to guarantee the outcome of the election.

Mr. Mahama, who was optimistic that the general election would go in favour of the NDC, predicted what he described as a clean victory for his party, as it would provide equal opportunities to Ghanaians, devoid of any form of discrimination.

Sounding like a priest as he addressed a well-attended gathering of supporters of the NDC, at the Ho Polytechnic auditorium last Sunday, Mr. Mahama noted that “God does His things in miraculous ways, and if God's will prevail, I know Prof. Mills will be the next president.”

However, just after this religious statement, the Bole Bamboi Member of Parliament (MP) went on the offensive, launching an attack on the government, as he became emotional.

He expressed his disgust towards government's assertion that it was the Indian Government that offered to build the newly-commissioned presidential palace.

According to the NDC vice-presidential candidate, government was economical with the truth, as it rather opted for the palace among several options.

Mr. Mahama noted that the building of the presidential palace by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was a clear sign that the ruling party did not put the priority of needs right, as it put up a US$70 million presidential palace in place of projects that would directly benefit the people.

He indicated that anything that concerned the executive had prompt attention, as government quickly provided funds to execute their needs, but pushed the concerns and needs of the people to the background.

Urging Ghanaians to vote for the NDC to promote law and order in the society, Mr. Mahama further noted that there were several murder incidents during the reign of the NPP without any arrests.

He then reminded the media of its responsibility to investigate claims made by governments, as the ruling government claimed that it had done much for the country, stressing that various past governments had housing projects, including the SSNIT flat houses built by the NDC, while the NPP had nothing to boast of.

Creating the impression that the media was biased towards the NDC during its reign, Mr. Mahama noted that if the NDC claimed to have done something, the media would quickly report on the said project, stressing that it had failed to bring to the fore what the NPP claimed to have done.

The National Youth Organiser of the NDC, Mr. Haruna Idrissu, noted that the 2008 general elections would determine the growth of democracy in the country, further indicating that it was the responsibility of the President, to ensure incident-free elections.

He, therefore, advised that acts of intimidation, as well as breaches of security, ought to be avoided during the up-coming elections.

Other speakers at the function included the Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy Youth Organiser, Mr. Akpene Hlodze, and MP for Keta, Mr. Dan Abodakpi, as well as Capt. George Nfodjoh (rtd), MP for Ho Central.