Nkawkaw, Aug. 10, GNA - Mr Dan Botwey, General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has said the Party would retain all its 105 parliamentary seats and win 60 additional ones to ensure an overwhelming victory in the 2004 General Election.

He, therefore, called on NPP members who have decided to contest as independent parliamentary candidates to rescind the decision and join the Party so that it could attain a resounding victory.

Mr Botwe was addressing a party rally at Nkawkaw at the weekend after the Party endorsement by acclamation Mr Okerchiri Kwabena Adusa's candidature to contest for the Nkawkaw seat on the ticket of the NPP. All the 102 polling station chairmen and constituency executive approved of Mr Adusa's bid at the Party's primaries at Nkwakwa.

Mr Botwe said Mr Adusa who is the incumbent NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwakwa, was a valuable asset for the Party in Parliament and urged the electorate to vote for him to enable the Party to retain the seat.

He said the Government's development programme was on track, adding that it was for this reason that a number of donor countries continued to give the country financial and material support for development. Mr Botwe said the NPP Government within its three-and-half years rule had attained much development for the country an achievement no other administration had been able to achieve.

The Minister for Railways, Ports and Harbours, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, said the Government's plan to rehabilitate the country's railway system and extend it to Burkina Faso was on course and urged the electorate to retain the NPP in power to enable it to implement the programme.

Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, Eastern Regional Minister, said any NPP supporter who would vote for President Kufuor as President and vote for an independent candidate as MP would be considered as not faithful to the Party.

He, therefore, appealed to supporters of independent candidates to vote for NPP parliamentary candidates.

Dr Osafo-Mensah gave the assurance that the Government would exploit the country's resources for equitable development. Nana Adi Ankamah, Eastern Regional Chairman of NPP, said the Party would win all the 28 parliamentary seats in the region, and urged supporters to intensify their electioneering campaign towards an overwhelming victory.

Mr Adusa thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him and urged them to unite and work towards an absolute victory for the Party in the elections.