Regional News of Wednesday, 17 November 2004

Source: GNA

Veep inaugurates market for Binaba

Binaba (U/E) Nov. 17 GNA - Vice President Aliu Mahama has as part of his tour of the Upper East Region inaugurated a 636 million cedis market to boost commercial activities and increase the incomes of the people of Binaba in the Bawku West District.

The District Assembly and the Village Infrastructure Project jointly undertook the project.

Addressing the people, who turned up in their numbers at about 2045 hours to welcome him, Vice President Mahama told them that their electrification project would soon be completed to enhance their socio-economic life.

"The Contractor has returned to Bolgatanga and he has been directed to rapidly return to site and complete the project. With electricity, you can establish cottage industries, your students can study in the evening and your night life would generally improve," he told the people.

He commended them for their fantastic turnout and their patience for waiting for long hours to welcome him and promised that their roads, which were being upgraded and tarred in phases, would be completed under the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) second term in office.

Similarly, he said, renovation works would be carried out on their vocational training institute and their health centre.

They should, therefore, renew the mandate of the NPP and also elect their District Chief Executive, Mr Moses Appiah Abaare, as their representative in Parliament to continue with the vision of reducing poverty and creating wealth in the area.

Vice President Mahama visited many villages and towns in the Pusiga; Garu-Tempane; Binduri; Bawku Central and Bawku West Constituencies during his Tuesday tour and elicited the people's impression about the NPP's Administration so far and explained the Government's agenda to them.

"For the NPP, no community is too small or too big for our partnership", said the Vice President, whose convoy drove through farmlands and narrow access routes to reach some of the communities. "Every area would eventually receive its fair share of the national cake to make life more meaningful to everyone."

The communities visited included Atuba, Garu, Tempane, Basyounde, Widana, Pusiga, Bawku, Zebilla, Binduri and Tilli.

In all the places, the chiefs expressed gratitude for the educational, water, road, electrification and health projects as well as dams that had been provided and requested for facilities they still lacked.

Vice President Mahama tasked the chiefs, security agencies and the people to work in concert to ensure that peace prevailed during and after the elections, so that the NPP Administration, which was confident to emerge victorious, would continue to lead Ghana into prosperity. The chiefs should educate their people to be tolerant of every political party and not to disrupt their competitor's programmes or deface their posters, the people should expose trouble makers; while the security agencies were to hunt the offenders and prosecute them. He reiterated his caution to the security agencies to be up and doing but fair, firm and transparent in dealing with all the parties. In all the constituencies, Vice President Mahama urged them to vote for only those running on the NPP's ticket because they would be better positioned to work with the Party's administration.

The candidates are: Mr Stephen Yakubu for Binduri Constituency; Mr Joseph Akudibillah, Deputy Minister of Defence, for Garu-Tempane; Mr Yahaya Seidu for Pusiga; Madam Hawa Yakubu for Bawku Central and Mr Moses Appiah Ahiare for Bawku West.

Vice President Mahama is on a one-week campaign tour of the Upper east Region.

Mr C.K. Tedam and Mr. Francis Afoko, both Members of the Council of State; Mr Ambrose Dery, a Deputy Minister of Defence and Deputy Attorney General and other public and party officials accompanied him. 17 Nov. 04