NDC UK and Ireland Chapter organised a diaspora outreach program under the theme “Changing Lives, Transforming Ghana,” Sustaining the Momentum on Monday 30th May 2016, in North London for members in UK and Ireland to interact with the Vice President and party officials. NDC members in Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Sheffield, Luton, Manchester, London North and South participated this outreach program in their numbers.

In attendance to grace the occasion were: the Vice President of Ghana, His Excellency Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, the General Secretary of the party, Hon. Asiedu Nketia, the International Relations Director, Hon. Kofi Attor, the Ghana High Commissioner to United Kingdom, His Excellency Mr. Victor Smith and other dignitaries from Ghana.

The Chairman of the UK and Ireland Chapter, Mr. Kofi Kwakye in his introductory speech thanked the Vice President and all the dignitaries for taking time out of their busy schedules to be part of the event. He introduced the Chapter executives and branch Chairmen.

According to Mr. Kofi Kwakye, the NDC UK and Ireland Chapter has grown from strength to strength with the inauguration of 5 more branches to the existing ones.

The High Commissioner, His Excellency Victor Smith in his address stressed that the achievements of President Mahama are so glaring for all to see so members of the NDC in the diaspora have the mandate to educate the people, both in Ghana and abroad. He encouraged members to refer to the "Green Book" which has most of the achievements captured when educating people. He also stated that in terms of personal track records, Nana Addo has no track record compared to President Mahama.

His Excellency emphasised that our opponents have no message nor anything to show so they just want to distract the government. He also assured members not to be intimidated by the NPP because government has the mandate to keep peace and stability.

Mr. Kofi Attor, praised NDC UK and Ireland Chapter members who came to Ghana to help the outreach program and also those who came to assist in the monitoring of the limited registration exercise in Ghana. He encouraged more members to come to Ghana and help the party during the general elections.

The General Secretary of the party, Hon. Asiedu Nketia received a loud applause when introduced to address party members. He stated that every Ghanaian wants to continue to enjoy the peace in the country. He therefore advised members to be mindful not to go to the gutters with the NPP and that no country can thrive in violence. Hon. Asiedu Nketia also expressed his pleasure that the NDC is going to the elections as a peaceful and a united party. According to him, the NPP cannot sustain the peace and unity of our country because they can't provide what they themselves don't have. He also advised members to use the "Green Book" to sell the achievements of the government to our friends and families both in UK and Ghana.

Hon. Asiedu Nketia took time to address Abu Ramadan versus the EC's Supreme Court case. He emphasised that Abu Ramadan lost the case but the NPP are pretending to have won the case.

On people who registered with the NHIS card, he outlined different times people registered with the NHIS card. Some Ghanaians used the NHIS card to register during the limited registration in 2006, 2008 and also in 2012 both main registration and limited registration. According to the General Secretary, the EC made it clear in court that they don't have the records of all those who registered with the NHIS cards. He said those who registered in 2006 and 2008, for example, might have used their old Voter's ID cards to register in 2012 and that, only the people who registered for the first time with the NHIS cards in 2012, if possible could be traced. "What happens to those who registered in 2006 and 2008?" he asked.

He also stressed that there is a clear procedure to challenge someone whose name is on the voter's register if one feels that name should not be there.

The Vice President, in his speech reiterated the importance of an Outreach Program and recalled an outreach program he led in 1995 to educate the public about VAT. On sustaining the momentum, His Excellency charged members not to be complacent about the massive achievements of the government but work hard to retain the NDC government, because government is doing its best to transform and sustain the momentum under social and economic development especially in the areas of health and education. He stated that primary enrolment in Ghana is currently hovering around 97%, whereas literacy rate is almost 80%.

The Vice President also recounted on the progress made on child mortality as well as maternal mortality. He concluded by stressing on the massive achievements of the government on infrastructure which is paving the way for job creation.

Members had the chance of asking questions and also commending the Vice President and party officials for honouring this invitation.

In a reaction to questions posed on the current anomaly on the electricity bills, the Vice President clarified that government has set up a committee to find out the estimation of the prepaid metres which has generated public concerns. He went on to state that households that consume up to 50KW of power a month are put under the lifeline structure and therefore pay a subsidised tariff. It is only those who consume power in the excess of 700KW that have had an increase in tariffs.

The meeting ended in jubilation and merry making with members in their party paraphernalia.


Michael Frempong

PRO, NDC UK and Ireland Chapter.