The Ashanti Regional Re-organisation Committee (RCC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has launched a programme code-named "Operation Sankofa 2004" as part of its reorganisation exercise.

This was announced by Alhaji Mohammed Sanni, Chairman of the Ashanti Regional Reorganisation Committee (ARRC) at the inauguration of the various constituency reorganisation committees in the Kumasi Metropolis.

He explained that the NDC allowed petty bickering and backbiting as well as complacency and arrogance to disintegrate its support base, which ultimately cost the party the election.

Alhaji Sanni said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) did not win the election but rather it was the NDC that lost the election.

He said it behoves the party members to wake up to the realities and galvanise themselves to reorganise the party to win back political power in the year 2004 elections.

"Now that we are all suffering the pain of losing an election and being vilified, intimidated and harassed, let us correct our mistakes and shortcomings to bounce back."

He recalled the unity, strength and stability with which the party worked to win the 1992 and 1996 elections and urged them to rediscover themselves, work hard for victory, adding, "united we stand divided we fall".

Mr Kojo Sly Akakpovie, Member-Secretary of the ARRC, said the "Operation Sankofa 2004" is a four-phase exercise to be executed with dexterity and military precision.

He advised the party activists not to be concerned about who would be the party's flagbearer in 2004 but rather focus on how to put the party together as was done in the 1992 and 1996 elections, adding, once the party is strong on the ground a winning flagbearer would be chosen at the national congress.

Mr Akakpovie urged those spreading rumours that certain people are using the reorganisation exercise to pursue their personal political and presidential agenda to desist from the practice.

He said this tendency could divide rather than unite the rank and file of the party at this very crucial stage of rebuilding the support base at the grassroots.

Madam Comfort Asamoah, also a member of the ARRC, urged women in the party to combine effectively with the youth to educate the younger ones, saying, the Rawlings era has brought to Ghanaians a politically stable nation.