Ho, Sept 25, GNA - Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli, has dismissed the perception that people in the Volta Region were intrinsically opposed to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

He said the region was open to all parties and that it was for the parties to present their programmes and themselves in ways that would gain the confidence of the people.

Togbe Afede was contributing to discussions during an open forum at a two-day meeting of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs in Ho. His contribution was prompted by denials by Mr Kofi Dzamesi, Volta Regional Minister that he had said during a duty tour of the Hohoe District that the region would remain underdeveloped if it remained opposed to government.

While the Minister said he had been misreported, Togbe Afede said he had heard such statements at different forums. He stated that veiled threats of denials of development projects, such as the alleged statement by the Regional Minister, would only antagonize the people.

The Agbogbomefia said the NPP needed to improve its liaison with the people in the region by ensuring that its appointees and activists lived by example and reflected values that would draw people to them. Togbe Afede said there was also the need for outreaches to explain government programmes and policies to the people. He said consultation of government with people on the ground was important, observing that since being installed chief about three years ago; he had never been consulted on any issue at the regional or municipal level.

Mr Kofi Dzamesi said he had only expressed concern about the attitude of some communities who often rejected or denigrated government policies such as the Health Insurance Scheme and the capitation grant, just because they were initiated by a government they were sentimentally opposed to.

For example, he alleged that a certain community, which he did not name, refused to patronise toilet facilities provided for them because the NPP government put it up.

Volta region is considered a stronghold of the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC), which had swept all parliamentary seats since multiparty democracy was restored in Ghana in 1992, ceding only one, the newly created Nkwanta-North seat to the NPP in the 2004 elections.