President John Dramani Mahama has asked voters in the three regions up north to turn out in their numbers on 7 December and vote massively for him and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) not because he hails from the north but because the NDC government has done more for the north than any other political party.

Addressing a rally at the Bolgatanga Jubilee Park as part of his three-day campaign tour of the region, Mr Mahama said: “It is especially important for us in the three northern regions to turn out properly not because I come from here but because if you weigh the two parties, the NDC has done more for the people of the North than any other party.

“Elections are about choices and if somebody says: ‘I will do this for you,’ what do you look at? You weigh the two and look at… ‘when [the NPP] had the opportunity, what did [they] do for me and the [NDC] too when [they] had the opportunity, what did [they] do for me?’ and when you weigh it, you will find out that the NDC is heavier than the NPP.”

Mr Mahama said former President Jerry John Rawlings brought development to the North during his tenure, showing the NDC’s love for the people of the North.

“We must stand here and salute Jerry John Rawlings because in this part of Ghana, we did not have electricity, and Akosombo was there from Nkrumah’s time. … [For] Northern, Upper East, Upper West regions, we didn’t have power.

It took Jerry Rawlings to say: ‘No, we can’t enjoy this essential infrastructure only in the southern part of Ghana. The North is part of this country and must also enjoy power.’ And so it was Jerry John Rawlings’ time that power was drawn all the way from Akosombo in the south to the northern part of this country. It was Jerry Rawlings who introduced the rural electrification programme and the national electrification programme that today has made so many of our communities benefit from electric power,” Mr Mahama noted.

The president added: “If you look at all sectors, in health care, education, provision of water, anytime we have enjoyed advanced development in the northern part of Ghana, it has been under an NDC government, and that’s why I say the North should turn out in its numbers to vote for the NDC not because I come from the North, but because the NDC is a party that has proven that it loves the people of the North and brings development to the people of the North.”