FORMER PRESIDENT J. J. Rawlings in his usual elements last Sunday directly accused President Kufuor and his clan of being the only beneficiaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration?s much-touted empty positive change slogan.

Delivering a highly charged speech at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) campaign launch at Cape Coast, Rawlings reiterated his oft-repeated charges of corruption against his successor, accusing him and his family members of being corrupt to the core.

He alleged that the past four years of NPP rule have seen the Kufuor family chopping public funds, saying that Positive change has only benefited them.

??Positive Change! So far, so good for Kufuor and his family? he shouted to a thunderous welcome by the sea of party faithful who had gathered at the Victoria Park to listen to him and other key members of the party.

Looking highly possessed, Rawlings also called on the electorate to vote out the ruling party at the December polls.

He accused the NPP government of always telling lies and faulted them as having a hand in the murder of the late Dagbon monarch, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani III.

He said the ruling party knows it would lose the elections and has started preparing for violence.

He also accused the NPP of not having respect for Ghanaians, saying they never will. He alleged that if the NPP was not voted out of power, they will soon tribalise the national army, jeopardising the security of the nation.

The flagbearer of the NDC, Professor John Evans Atta- Mills on his part called on Ghanaians to rally behind him and his party, because their manifesto is based on truth which can never be buried. Truth stands for all time, and the NDC will always show that ultimate power comes from God, he said.

According to Mills, people are crying for salvation wherever he goes because the NPP administration has failed them.

He said people are always saying that the change they are experiencing is negative, claiming that the NDC would bring back to people the salvation they are craving for when voted into power. He said the NDC is a peaceful party and Ghanaians bear witness to that effect.

Mills said when voted into power, the NDC will devote 1/3 of its Cabinet to women because they are very clever in a lot of matters that can help the country in developing. Also, the NDC will conduct fresh investigations into the killing of the Ya-Na because everybody in the country deserves justice, he said.

He concluded his speech by asking all party members and supporters to remain united in all that they do. ?The NDC is marching on to victory? he said.

On his part, the National Organiser of the party and MP for Fanteakwa, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, called on the youth to rally behind Mills because the NPP government has no plans for them.

He said as a result of this, the government has placed the Youth and Sports Ministry under the Education Ministry, thereby killing the Sports Ministry.

He said the government?s message of ?So far, so good? is because there is a change in the lives of people in government and not because ordinary Ghanaians are experiencing change in their lives.

He said the NPP has introduced ?moneycracy? and not democracy into the country.

He also called for a debate between the presidential aspirants of the two parties and their ruining mates for Ghanaians to see the difference between the two teams.

The MP for Wenchi-West, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, also said that people are always saying that he is small but he believes he will be fat in 2005 when the elephant is overthrown. This is because it is only the elephant?s meat that can fatten him.

Ms Ama Benyiwa Doe, MP for Gomoa West, in a fiery speech also accused the President of deceiving Ghanaians.

Chanting ?Kofi Diawuo a den yen awu? (Kofi Diawuo has been wicked to us), he accused the President of having failed in leading the nation, alleging that he had been travelling around the world without much concern for his subjects.