General News of Monday, 6 November 2000

Source: GNA

Vote out NDC- MP

Member of Parliament for Old-Tafo/Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, has called on Ghanaians to vote out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for "showing incompetence" in the handling the country's affairs.

He said, the people need to be told the truth about the country's state of affairs to enable them to make informed choices in the general election next month, which he described as crucial.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Young Elephants Club, a youth wing of the NPP at Bremang, Kyei-Mensah said the PNDC inherited a foreign debt of 800 million dollars and justified the overthrow of Limann's PNP government on the premise that they had saddled the nation with a huge debt.

He said almost 20 years on, Ghana's foreign debt stands at seven billion dollars, adding: "this is enough ground to throw out the NDC which has not invested in any gainful venture which will allow the country to pay back its loans". Kyei-Mensah said at the beginning of the year the universities needed 13 billion cedis to operate smoothly but the government said there was no money.

However, just at the same time the government could acquire a 22.3 million-dollar Presidential jet without parliamentary approval. He explained that whereas the 13 billion cedis was going to benefit 20,000 students in the country's universities, the presidential jet is for the President and 14 others.

Kyei-Mensah advised the electorate to vote for those who will be able to effect positive changes in their lives and better manage the economy. Edward Osei Kwaku, MP for Asokwa-West, appealed to the electorate to vote the NDC out because after almost 20 years of misrule, the people of Ghana have suffered deterioration in their standard of living.

He said today the average person cannot pay the school fees of his children even though on paper government says education is free at the primary level.