Government would under the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) irrigate 100,000 hectares of land for all season farming in the Builsa North and Builsa South districts.

President John Dramani Mahama, who announced this, said the programme would also benefit thousands of farmers along the Sisili and Kulkpong Rivers that flows through the Upper East and West Regions of the country.

The President was addressing a rally at Sandema in the Builsa South District on Monday, as part of his three-day campaign tour of the Upper East Region.

He visited Tongo, Bongo, Kongo, Zanlerigu, Zuarungu, Fumbisi, Navrongo, Chiana and Paga, where he outlined the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto and development plans to the electorate.

President Mahama, presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for election 2012, said the drifting of farmers and other youth to the southern part of Ghana during the dry season was due to lack of jobs, and hoped that the irrigation of the Sisili-Kulkpong areas would promote agricultural activities and prevent rural-urban migration.

He said the irrigation projects would be replicated in the Northern and Upper West regions to stop the perennial North-South migration by the youth for non-existent jobs.

At the Navrongo Campus of the University for Development Studies, President Mahama advised the students to ignore the vain promises by some political parties and vote for the NDC that has the potentials of solving their problems.

President Mahama said the NDC had always been sensitive to the plight of students, and had established more Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions, and would not renege on that stance to provide quality education at all levels.

“Others are going about promising free education, when in actual fact, there are no educational facilities to accommodate those students, but we shall continue to provide the infrastructure for them to enjoy quality education at all levels,” he added.

Alhaji Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Communication, said lies and promises were not enough to win any election, and appealed to NDC members to be truthful and credible in their campaign to attract more electorate.

“This election is about credibility, truth and integrity, and I believe that with our performance in the past years, the people will return us into power.”

Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC, called on party supporters to remain resolute to enable the NDC to massively win election 2012.