General News of Thursday, 17 February 2011

Source: peacefmonline

Do what is right - Nana Addo tells Mills

The 2012 presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, has charged the Mills-Mahama NDC government to do what is right and stop being hysterical about his “all die be die” comment.

He has called on the President to ensure that the police do their constitutional duty by protecting Ghanaians without fear or favour. He has also urged the President, who is the leader of the ruling party, to direct his party to mae elections in Ghana free of intimidations, violence and fraud.

He said “the NPP has always been the party for peace and we will continue to advocate for free, fair, open and transparent elections. This notwithstanding, the NDC with every given opportunity continues to show that they only believe in the politics of violence and intimidation. The NPP will no longer sit and watch the NDC have their way. We will not throw the first stone, but if they do, we will rise up and defend ourselves and ensure that we protect our votes.”

He continued that “if the NDC are sure in their minds that they won’t come into the 2012 elections with their usual intimidation and violence tactics, why worry about my comments? Rather than being hysterical about my comments, they should put in place the proper measures that would assure all of us that the elections would be free, fair, open and transparent. That’s all we ask of them.”

He was speaking at the Radash Memorial Hotel, Tuesday when he met with a large section of NPP constituency officers of the Northern region as well as parliamentary hopefuls and regional executives as part of a nationwide tour by the leadership of the party to educate all stakeholders in the upcoming 30th April parliamentary primaries of the party.

He charged the executives at all levels, from national to constituency, not to take sides in the parliamentary elections. He noted that “I can confidently tell you that our national Chairman, Mr. Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey and his team of national officers have no preferred candidate and are determined to conduct a free, fair, open and transparent election.”

He stressed that “you have to vote for hard working men and women who can take our message to every nook and cranny of our country. Candidates who can help maximize our votes to ensure that we win both the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2012.”

Nana Addo cautioned them against the use of unguarded language in the process adding that they only have to tell delegates what they can do to help the party win the elections in the constituency and not reduce the contest to personal attacks. He added that delegates also have a role to play in that regard and called on them not to entertain candidates or their messengers who come to you to insult other candidates.

He noted that “if the elections are conducted in a healthy manner, the party will come out more united and stronger and that is surely in our interest.”

He also cautioned against the use of his name by candidates in their campaigns adding that he has not asked anybody to come and contest the elections with his name. “Let them tell you what they have done and what they can do for the party.”

Earlier in the day, the team on their way to Tamale fromBolgatanga stopped at Walewale to hold a meeting with four constituencies, Naleirugu/Gambaga, Bunkpurugu Nyonyo, Walewale and Yakaba Kubore all part of the Northern region.