General News of Thursday, 19 June 1997

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We Were Not Part Of Delegation To The US - PNC

Accra (GAR), - The People's National Convention (PNC) said today that it was not represented on the 60-member trade delegation that toured the United States recently as being alleged in certain quarters. ''The PNC was not involved whatsoever at any stage of the whole arrangements for that tour and others,'' a statement issued by the party in Accra, said. The delegation, led by Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills, was made up of representatives from government and some opposition parties. The statement said it is ''regrettable'' that the PNC which fielded one of the three Presidential candidates, Dr. Edward Mahama, in last year's elections, and has Dr. Hilla Limann, the only living ex-President of Ghana as its Chairman, should be left out of the delegation. It described as ''an act of criminal neglect if the rich store of experience and vision of the PNC can be marginalised or ignored in such high profile national endeavours. ''We consider the large 60-man delegation to a country where our embassy has a full complement of a trade mission and many enterprising businessmen as rather too generous, expensive and gratuitous for our ailing economy,'' it said. The statement added that the PNC will continue to offer responsible opposition and address pressing problems of the day for the good of the nation.