General News of Wednesday, 19 December 2001

Source: .

Witch-hunt will continue, If we win in 2004 -Ahwoi

Former minister for Economic Planning and Regional Integration, Kwamena Ahwoi has said that NDC former ministers and others, who sympathise with the party, are being psychologically tortured by the NPP government and warned that it would be very difficult for the NDC or any future government to refuse to look at the past as the NPP is doing.

“People are being psychologically tortured day in day out by the NPP government, so I think it would be very difficult for you people (NDC supporters) to say we should not look back when we win the 2004 elections,” Ahwoi was quoted in the Ghanaian Chronicle, a private newspaper as having told an NDC regional congress at Sekondi.

Ahwoi, one of the leading members of the minority NDC said, whatever the NPP government is doing to the ex-NDC ministers is a precedent they are setting for others to follow in future.

According to him, the new NPP government is using the rule of law to suppress its opponents, especially NDC members, by subjecting every policy and project initiated by the former NDC government to criminal investigation through the security agencies.

He noted that though so far the government has not been able to charge any ex-NDC minister with corruption except causing financial loss to the state, among others, top appear before one form of probe or the other.

The former minister said even businessmen and consultants who identify themselves with the NDC have also been roped into this hunt.

Kwamena Ahwoi further said the NPP government was expecting the NDC ministers to have fled the country so that their propaganda work could work to perfection but they are still around and would not leave for any place.

Though NDC programmes are being subjected to criminal investigations, the government has at the same time adopted or implemented about 155 projects, which were initiated by the NDC government without giving them any credit.

He gave the assurance that at the appropriate time all these 155 projects would be published in the daily papers for everybody to know.

On accusations and counter accusations going on in the NDC, Ahwoi said when the NPP were in opposition, they suffered similar fate but it was not considered as confusion, but when it happened in the NDC, it is seen as confusion.

“We say we want to practice internal democracy and this alleged confusion is part of it. I, however, wish to assure you that we shall go to our congress this month and come out in flying colours.” Ahwoi added that, “the resolution we shall adopt in the midst of the alleged confusion is what we shall use to topple NPP in 2004.”