NPP Supporters Shake Cologne

Members and supporters of the New Patriotic Party [NPP] clad in party colours gathered in Cologne over the weekend for what has been described as the largest gathering of NPP supporters on foreign soil, according to Kwaku Anane-Gyinde also domiciled in Germany. The rally code named �Recapture Power and Rebuild Ghana� coincided with the inauguration of the Cologne Chapter of the party and attracted party faithful from neighboring countries including Holland, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic. In an address Nana Obiri Boahen, former Minister of Interior in the Kufuor administration noted that governance is a process not an event and what most Ghanaians expected of the Mills-Mahama administration was a continuation of the infrastructural projects and social intervention programmes started by the NPP administration. This unfortunately has not been the case, he added. Nana Obiri Boahen disclosed that vital projects such as the 5000 affordable housing units project initiated by the NPP government have been abandoned while social intervention programmes including the National Health Insurance Scheme, School Feeding Programme and Free Maternity Care have all but collapsed under the NDC government. He described the situation as reckless and irresponsible for which the people must hold government accountable. The veteran lawyer explained that the three and a half year old Mills-Mahama administration is characterized by incompetence, mismanagement and unprecedented massive corruption scandals in the history of Ghana. �This high level corruption among government officials erodes public confidence in our political institutions and undermines our democracy,� he said. According to him, President Mills and the NDC have failed the test of governance and must be voted out to prevent the situation from developing into a full-blown crisis, insisting that the current state of the country�s economy is unacceptable and must be reversed by replacing the failed NDC administration on December 7. On his part, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, former Central Regional Minister reminded Ghanaians that not only had the government failed to fulfill its own election manifesto, it is unable to meet the basic needs of the people thereby making life unbearable for the majority of ordinary Ghanaians. �What we have witnessed under President Mills is soaring food prices, daily increases in the prices of utilities, exorbitant school fees and a crumbling health system,� he stated. Dr Arthur insisted that natural resources alone are not enough but the ability to build the necessary talents and expertise that can help harness these resources through relevant education is what makes the difference. He reiterated that an Akufo-Addo led government will tap the talents and expertise of all Ghanaians towards national development efforts irrespective of their place of residence. Also addressing the rally, Alhassan Yakubu Tali, National Vice Chairman of NPP-Germany made it clear that the election is about the economy and who can do a better job at managing it adding �If we get the economy right, all other things will follow.� According to the 42 year-old Investment banker, the present economic mess in which the country finds itself is not due to the lack of resources but inefficient leadership in the management of the economy as demonstrated by the current administration. The event also saw the swearing into office of newly elected members of the cologne chapter by Kwadwo Kagya-Agyemang, Regional Chairman of the party in North-Rhein Westphalia [NRW]. Rebecca Sarpong is the Chairperson with Felix Opoku as the General Secretary. Mark Sarpong is the Financial Secretary while Christiana Muller becomes the Treasurer. The position of Organizer went to Rex Kwasi Poku with Kofi Amponsah as his deputy. The youth wing is headed by George Kofi Tweneboah who will be assisted by Kwame Boamah.