The Western Regional Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Yaw Boateng Gyan, has told The Chronicle that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has started panicking after watching on the streets of Accra, the large crowd that followed ex-President Rawlings when he appeared before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC).

"In fact, Rawlings' appearance at the NRC has sent shivers down the spine of the ruling government because they did not anticipate the man they were aiming to destroy to pull such a huge crowd in an election year like this," Gyan Boateng said.

The NDC regional organizer who called this reporter to react to an earlier interview Mr. Peter Mac Manu, NPP western regional chairman had granted this paper in Sekondi last week, said it was undeniable fact that ex-president Rawlings was the most popular politician in the country which fact the NPP themselves knew but were trying to play down with the preaching that Jerry Rawlings was no more a factor in our politics.

Mr. Yaw Boateng Gyan further told The Chronicle that President Kufuor himself knew that he could not match ex-president Rawlings when it came to popularity, hence his decision to "flee" the country to Kigali to avoid seeing the crowd that would be following the founder of the largest opposition party.

The NDC organizer also recalled that when ex-president Rawlings was invited by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) for questioning after he had gone to Kumasi to make a public statement, President Kufuor again chose to "flee" the country.

Gyan argued that if Rawlings was no more a factor in contemporary Ghanaian politics as Mac Manu was claiming in the interview he granted this paper, why did officials usually fixed Rawlings' invitations to coincide with the foreign travels of President Kufuor?

"Rawlings has a unique charisma which is God - given and cannot therefore be erased with any propaganda work which the NPP seems to have adopted to destroy him," he said and added that the more they tried to damage him, the more they were making him popular.

Yaw Gyan contended that contrary to the belief of Mac Manu and his men, it was the Rawlings factor that would determine the direction of this year's elections, whether they liked it or not.

The NDC regional organizer said the NPP regional chairman appeared to have been lost in Ghanaian politics else he wouldn't have made a statement to the effect that this year's elections would be won on issues.

What issues was he talking about? Was it the astronomical increase in telephone, electricity, water and other utility bills, which the poor Ghanaian taxpayer was struggling to pay, or the numerous promises that his party had made to Ghanaians, which had not been fulfilled? He added that if these issues were what the NPP was referring to, then he (Gyan) was assuring them that the NDC would surely floor them, come December.

Organiser Gyan called on the NPP to quench the fire that had started burning in their own backyard in the western region and stop poking their heads into NDC matters.

According to him, the NDC had tried, and in fact, imposed candidates on their constituents during the 2000 elections and paid dearly for it but instead of the NPP taking a cue from this mistake, they were rather trying to repeat the same in the western region.

Boateng Gyan told The Chronicle that the NDC was also aware of the falsehood being peddled by the NPP that they were finding it very difficult to get candidates to contest the various parliamentary seats in the region on the ticket of the NDC.

He said as at the time he was speaking to The Chronicle, two prominent candidates had already filed their papers to contest the Takoradi constituency primaries. He gave the break down of candidates who had filed to contest the primaries in what he described as 'orphan constituencies' as follows - Sekondi - 1, Shama -2, Ahanta West -3, Ellembele - 1, Tarkwa- Nsueam - 1, Prestea - Huni - Valley - 4, Amenfi East -2, Amenfi West - 2 and Effia Kwesimintsim - 3.

Mr. Gyan declined to mention the names of these candidates for what he described as strategic reasons. He however said the primaries in the aforementioned constituencies would be held in the first week in April to elect one of the candidates to represent each constituency.

According to the organizer, the NDC lost the 2000 elections because Ghanaians needed a change but voters had now realized that they had made a mistake after seeing that the NPP was rather interested in the welfare of the already affluent people in the society and relegated the poor to the background.

Gyan revealed that the NDC was currently putting its house in order and as soon as they finished, the big men in the party would hit the campaign trail for the NPP to see the real action.

He said but for the CPP, the PNC and other parties, the NPP wouldn't have come to power, so it was empty noise that the NPP had started making that they would win the elections.