PPP’s rally brings Mankessim to standstill

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP), on Saturday, brought the Mankessim town in the Central Region to a standstill when thousands of supporters of the party thronged the main lorry park to partake in a mammoth rally.

The supporters, dressed in party colours, took over the entire centre and the main roundabout that linked Mankessim Lorry Park to all the various communities in the region.

Even before the rally commenced around 2 p.m., supporters had started arriving at the venue in their numbers, with traders of food and party paraphernalia cashing in on the rally.

The crowd kept swelling with time as every available space was covered, amid drumming, singing and dancing.

Most of the supporters, who could not find space to stand at the rally ground, climbed tall cement walls, with others standing on vehicles that carried them to the rally ground.

The whole Mankessim roundabout to the entrance of the rally ground was packed full of party supporters as they struggled to the lorry station to catch a glimpse and observe proceedings amid heavy police presence.

Vehicles moved at a snail’s pace as a result of the huge vehicular traffic caused by the movement of hordes of party supporters from various parts of the region to the rally ground.

As the gurus of the party mounted the podium to speak, they were met with rapturous applause.

Immediately the supporters saw the flag bearer, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, and his wife, Mrs Ivonne Nduom, arrive in their convoy to the rally ground, the supporters began chanting: “Edjumawura”.

It took the two more than 20 minutes to mount the stage because all the supporters wanted to touch him.

Prior to the rally, Dr Nduom, led by executive of the party to pay courtesy calls on the chiefs and elders of Mankessim, where they were welcomed with the assurance that they were solidly behind him.

It’s time

Before Dr Nduom mounted the stage to speak, many of his regional and national executives had addressed the supporters.Those with him included the National Youth Coordinator, Mr Divine Nkrumah; and the Policy Advisor, Mr Kofi Asamoah Siaw. Also the party used the rally to introduce all the parliamentary candidates of the PPP in the region.

Addressing the crowd around 3 p.m., Dr Nduom said the next four years of Ghana was so crucial that any mistake to vote for any party apart from the PPP would spell doom for the people.

He said it was time for the electorate to rise up and allow their votes to decide who they wanted to lead the country into the future.

Dr Nduom, who spoke for close to an hour, said he was disheartened that Central Region, which used to be the “centre of Ghana’s glory,” had suddenly become a place of “economic mourning” where the youth were now running away.

“When you look at the poverty ladder of regions in the country, Central Region is the fourth following the three northern regions. What kind of embarrassment is that? Where did we go wrong?” he asked.

Dr Nduom said if for nothing at all, the region should be the place where the people should get better schools, sustainable jobs and quality healthcare system but “now we are the laughing stock of the entire country”.

“The only reason for this is because you humbly gave your vote to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) thinking that they will help you. Now is the time to teach these two parties an unforgettable lesson,” he said.

He said it would only take the PPP to restore the lost glory of the region and also to resurrect the dead economy that had been caused by the NDC.

“Let all the youth direct their frustrations and pain at the NDC and the NPP and vote for the PPP because without us, Ghana will continue to sink deeper,” Dr Nduom added.

Don’t be deceived

The National Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond, admonished the electorate not to allow the big promises given by the NDC and the NPP to deceive them.

He said the two parties had nothing new to offer Ghanaians aside “continuous implementation of bad economic policies that will further bring poverty to the people”.

Nii Brew-Hammond called on the electorate to judge Dr Nduom’s competence by looking at the number of jobs he had created in all the districts of Ghana.

For his part, the Policy Advisor of the PPP, Mr Kofi Asamoah Siaw, said the party would implement its entire 10-point agenda that sought to enhance the standard of education, improve healthcare, create jobs for the people and put up more infrastructure in all the regions.

Source: Daily Graphic