Kumasi (Ashanti Regtion) 21 April  

Mr Owusu Banahene, former Chairman of Old-Tafo Suame branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged President Jerry John Rawlings to wage a relentless war to purge the party of all corrupt elements. The corruption "canker" has engulfed the party structure in Kumasi, particularly at the Metropolitan assembly, he said, and called on the President to redeem the image of the party and the government. "For many of us in the NDC, who have toiled to keep the party in power, we know that our hands are clean and cannot allow the few greedy individuals to disgrace us", he added. Mr Banahene said most supporters and other Ghanaians are looking up to the President "to do something to expose the bad nuts within the party, as the more he keeps them, the more they infest the many good nuts left".

He advised the party's leadership to take a cue from other countries' past and present political phenomena, and stem the embarrassment that is caused by both serving and past officers, who are dragged to court to account for their stewardship. "Since we are in a constitutional era and as such revolutionary measures cannot be used in the governance of the country, they can be applied within the party", Mr Banahene said in a statement issued to the GNA in Kumasi on Tuesday.

The former chairman commended Mr Kojo Yankah, Ashanti Regional Minister, whose pronouncements and programmes, aimed at uniting the people, and also to boost the tourism and economic image of the region and the entire nation.