Sunyani, Jan. 30, GNA - Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah, National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on Ghanaians to vote the NPP out in the 2004 elections to save the nation from "continued bad governance".

Dr. Asamoah was addressing a rally in Sunyani as part of a tour of the Brong-Ahafo region on Thursday.

Some national executives of the party including Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, National Organiser, Mr. Iddrisu Haruna, National Youth Organiser, Hajia Salamatu Kunte, Deputy National Women's Organiser and Mr. Isaac Adjei-Mensah, MP for Techiman-North and Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament accompanied him.

Dr. Asamoah recalled the promises of the NPP during the campaign for the 2000 election and said the "economic heat" should be enough for Ghanaians to realise that the promises were only to grab votes. He said the rising cost of education in second cycle and tertiary institutions was "nothing to write home about", even though the "so-called" high fees when the NDC was in power part of the NPP's propaganda.

"Education in the country now is very expensive and if you vote NPP back to power it would mean many Ghanaians cannot pay their children's fees and will thus deny them education," he said.

Dr. Asamoah conceded that many NDC supporters contributed to NPP's victory in the region and gave figures to support this, saying, "they rather voted against their mother party".

In the 1996 elections, NDC scored 62 per cent in the Presidential race and won 17 parliamentary seats out of the 26 in the region, but in the 2000 elections about 1.2 million people voted against the party, with the result that it won only seven seats, he explained.

Dr. Asamoah blamed NDC members and supporters "for stooping too low to NPP's window-dressing political campaign promises," which convinced them to shift camp.

This wrong decision "has brought about the demise of National Mobilization Programme (NMP), which the NPP government perceive to be pro-NDC".

NDC members and supporters who failed to vote for their party have been sacked from their workplaces, he added and mentioned the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) as a case in point.

"If you want to change things in the 2004 elections, you are capable of doing so because NDC is in Brong-Ahafo," he said, adding, "You have the voting power to redeem yourself".

Dr Asamoah asked them to register massively when the Voters Register is re-opened and to be vigilant to check any manipulation by the NPP during the exercise.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Regional Chairman, said the increase in petroleum prices and school fees and the rising cost of living were indicators that "the NPP has failed the nation".