... It?s tit for tat, says NPP guru

THE PRONOUNCEMENT by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Brong Ahafo Regional Organizer, Kofi Darko, which generated intense controversy among the executives in the region during the 2004 electioneering campaign that, ?the NPP government was going to implement ?tit for tat? policy in the Positive Change Chapter Two? has been reemphasized by the Northern Regional Executives of the party.

Mr. Darko had, at Babatokuma in the Kintampo District during the launch of electioneering campaign for their parliamentary candidate, Mr. Isaac Sarkodie Boahen, hinted that ?NPP government in its second term would only develop communities that would vote for the party in the 2004 December 7, elections, should we retain power.?

Charging the media to elaborate on the NPP?s new policy, he said, ?it is going to be, if you pray for me, I will also pray for you, if you do me, I will also do you, as well as if you mandate me, I meet your demands.?

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Mr. Mustapha Abdul Samiyu, the Northern Regional publicity secretary of the NPP, he also stressed that what was alleged to be a wrong statement by Mr. Darko during the campaign season was the real secret policy of the government, which would be strictly adhered to as signs of consoling those who mandated the incumbent President and his government.

?If our executives expressed displeasure at that statement, it was because they feared losing some political points.?

According to him, the ungrateful conduct of the people of the Volta Region in particular and some parts of the three northern regions attested to the fact that it was better for the government to boost the faith of those communities that reposed their trust in the NPP.

He explained and quizzed, ?when one considers the number of development, money and resources this government pumped into the reformation of Volta Region in the Positive Change Chapter One, as compared to that of NDC?s 20 years, there was no doubt that they can betray us, but nothing good came from there. So in this case, are you expecting the same government to pamper you at the expense of those who voted for it??

He added, ?We have now realized that it is good to help those who fulfilled their promises.?

Mr. Abdul Samiyu, who was fully backed by his deputy, Mr. Yahaya Fuseini, also observed that it was the policy of every political party to serve those who voted it into power.

In the November 16, 2004 front page publication of The Chronicle headlined ?NPP CHAIR?s GRIM THREAT TO VOTERS?Vote for us, Or Else?, Mr. Darko, the NPP Brong Ahafo Regional Organizer maintained, ?Those NDC strongholds would never be second time lucky in the hands of the NPP government, since the government would never hesitated to deny them the requisite development projects required of them.?

The NPP organizer disclosed that the government would no longer tolerate further disappointment from the ungrateful voters who made it very difficult for the government to fully implement its good policies in 2000-2004, due to the large and tough opposition it had in parliament.

He stated that, most of the policies that the sitting government wanted to execute to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians were all opposed by the opposition members to discredit the NPP government.

Therefore, if the people continue to maintain or increase the number of opposition in parliament, then the best option for the government was to devote much attention and resources to the few communities that mandated them, he asserted.

Warning the so-called NDC strongholds to change their way of voting, particularly Babatokuma in the Kintampo North District, which he said had voted against the NPP in 1992, 1996 and 2000, Mr. Darko threatened that they would forever remain underdeveloped if they failed to vote for the elephant in the next general elections.

He indicated that, though the government was able to send development to the NDC strongholds as equally as the NPP?s terrains, despite their high opposition, they would never be accorded the same opportunities this time.