NDC, NPP gearing up to ensure win in Central
Region
Cape Coast, Dec. 11, Ghanadot/GNA - The executives of
the Central Regional branches of the National Democratic
Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have
said they would work hard to canvass for more votes for
their presidential candidates in the run-off on December
28.
They expressed their determination in interviews with
the GNA after the Electoral Commission (EC) announced
the result of the election.
Mr Kwamina Duncan, regional secretary of the NPP, said
the result showed that between Prof John Atta Mills and
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghanaians had approved the
NPP presidential candidate “even though it is not
complete.”
He said he could not foresee how the result of the
run-off could be any different and to ensure a
resounding win for their candidate the regional branch
had began to formulate strategies to win more votes in
the region, particularly in the eight constituencies
that it lost to the NDC.
On the party’s heavy losses along the coastal belt of
the country, Mr Duncan said there must have been other
“extraneous factors” that led to its defeat such as the
inability of the government to tackle the fishermen’s
concerns about pair trawling and distribution of pre-mix
fuel.
He said these matters could not have been tackled at the
party level and that it was for the government to have
taken these concerns seriously.
“The party’s defeat in these areas must have been the
fishermen’s way of registering their protest.”
On the general conduct of the election, Mr Duncan
commended people in the region for voting peacefully,
the NDC for winning in 11 of the 19 constituencies and
the regional election security taskforce and the media,
for discharging their duties efficiently.
The regional NDC chairman, Mr Sam Valis Akyianu, said he
was optimistic that Prof. Mills would win the run-off,
saying that would be more appropriate, since the party
has the largest number of parliamentarians.
He said the regional executive was going to intensify
its campaign, especially in the remaining eight
constituencies retained by the NPP, to convince people
to vote for Prof. Mills.
Speaking to some residents about their views for the
run-off, some of them said they would want Nana
Akufo-Addo to win, while others said they wanted a
change and would rather want Prof Mills to win.
People who spoke in favour of a win for Prof. Mills
seemed to be happy about the outcome of the results but
supporters of the NPP were surprised and unhappy about
the outcome.
Some complained about the run-off, saying it was going
to affect them financially since they had to travel to
Kumasi to cast their votes.
During Sunday’s parliamentary election the NDC, which
hitherto had two seats in parliament, took eight of the
16 held by the NPP.
GNA
