Security agencies asked to ensure violence free election at Chereponi

Vice President John Mahama on Saturday tasked security agencies to be firm in ensuring that no violence erupts during the Chereponi by-election scheduled for Tuesday. He said government has given the security agencies �every authority to arrest anybody who in possession of weapons illegally, to make the elections peaceful�. Addressing National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters at Chereponi on Saturday as part of a four-day tour of the Northern Region, Vice President Mahama directed the security agencies to allow other political parties to campaign freely. He said since Ghana has decided to be a democratic country, all parties must be given a free hand to operate so that the electorate would be better informed in taking decisions regarding the direction of the country. Mr Mahama said this would ensure that none of the five political parties vying for the Chereponi parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of Madam Doris Seidu would have cause to complain when they lose the race. He asked the electorate to vote massively for the NDC candidate, Mr Samuel Jabanyite, since he could become an effective mouth piece of the people of Chereponi who are saddled with developmental challenges. Vice President Mahama assured the people that the deplorable roads in the area would be rehabilitated during the first term of the NDC government. He expressed worry that roads in the area had been allowed to deteriorate and said a contract has been awarded for the rehabilitation of the Yendi-Chereponi road. Vice President Mahama said President J.E.A. Mills has designated the Accra-Hohoe-Nkwanta-Damanko-Bimbila-Chereponi road which forms part of Ghana�s Eastern Corridor major road as a �priority� project to be completed within his first term of office. He said the �Eastern Corridor� roads would help to open the northern part to the rest of the country and also link Ghana to neighbouring West Africa countries with which the country has a growing trade relation. Vice President Mahama said it would also facilitate traveling from Accra, Ghana�s capital city, to the Northern part of the country. He announced that government has secured resources for the linking of seven towns in the Chereponi constituency to the national electricity grid. During the 2008 General Election, the NPP candidate polled 9, 423 votes compared while NDC candidate polled 7, 881 votes. Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC National Chairman, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Communications, Dr Hannah Bissiw NDC leading member, accompanied the Vice President on his tour that was expected to end on Sunday. They were expected to visit flood prone communities in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions to enable government work out an appropriate response to the human suffering occasioned by floods.