Mills gets tumultuous welcome at Kpedze

Kpedze, (V/R), Nov. 12, GNA - Professor Evans Atta Mills, presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was home to a tumultuous welcome at Kpedze on Friday, as part of his campaign tour of the Volta Region.
Before his arrival by late morning, hoards of supporters had poured into Kpedze from the surrounding communities.
The main streets were jammed and awash with NDC colours as groups of supporters competed to undo each other with praise-singing and drumming, extolling the invincibility of the NDC and its parliamentary candidate Mr Francis Agbotse, the incumbent MP and a citizen of the town.
The euphoria reached a crescendo with the arrival of Professor Mills whose convoy of vehicles was blocked by the motley crowd and forced to move at a snail's-pace.
On the sidelines of the jubilation, however, were expressions of cautious optimism as groups of people debated the chances of the party in general and its parliamentary candidate in particular in the December 7 election.
To some, this year had witnessed the most competitive campaigning ever in the constituency since the inception of the fourth republic, attributing this to the strength of opposition from Miss Elizabeth Ohene, the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Professor Mills' presence at Kpedze, the first by the party's presidential candidate was seen by others as a measure of the tempo to which campaigning had risen in the constituency and the need to lend it some muscle.
"Miafe nku bia", literally meaning, "our eyes are red", was how an activist of the party put it.
Others, though impressed by the large crowd of supporters rationalized that the thumb remained the decisive factor and expressed the hope that in the midst of the election euphoria peace would prevail. Meanwhile, Captain Von Barkunstein (rtd), a leading member of the NPP in the Ho-West constituency has defected to the NDC.