The Ashanti Region branch of the Co-ordinating Committee of the three Northern Regions and Zongos (COZONGO) have declared their support for the former Minister of Agriculture, Mr J. H. Owusu-Acheampong on his intention to contest for the national chairmanship position of the National

Democratic Congress (NDC) in the forthcoming congress of the party. The declaration of support was contained in a statement issued in Kumasi on Thursday and signed by Alhaji Mohammed Moro, the Regional Chairman of COZONGO.

The COZONGO made it clear that their support for Mr Owusu-Acheampong, also a former Majority Leader in the First and Second Parliaments of the Fourth Republic, is unshakeable and that they would explore all available avenues to ensure that he was elected national chairman of the NDC.

The statement explained that the decision of the Ashanti COZONGO stems from the realisation that Mr Owusu-Acheampong was a selfless man and a seasoned politician imbued with the attributes of honesty and practical leadership skills needed for moving the NDC forward.

The COZONGO also stressed that it was their firm conviction that Mr Owusu-Acheampong was the "only candidate who can save the NDC from any fragmentation and salvage it from its present woes and predicaments".

The statement said "the bold decision of Mr Owusu-Acheampong to contest the chairmanship portfolio is a welcome relief since his intervention was the surest guarantee to uniting the party and the feuding factions struggling for occupation of the national chairmanship position of the NDC".

The COZONGO commended all those, who persuaded Mr Owusu-Acheampong to enter the race for the national chairmanship position since their initiative was timely and would help to save the NDC from collapse.

"It is our avowed belief that if Mr Owusu-Acheampong assumed the national chairmanship office, sanity will be brought to bear on the rank and file of the party with a landslide victory fully assured for the NDC in the next parliamentary and presidential elections", the statement said.