<<Print>>

A STAUNCH supporter of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a known radio communicator for the government, Osei Yaw Nketiah has accused market women at Okanshie and their counterparts at Abbossey Okai of intentionally hiking prices of goods and services to make the government unpopular. �If the people don�t like you they try all means including hiking prices of commodities to make your government ungovernable,� he claimed. He cited what happened immediately after the 2000 election where market women reduced prices of their goods because President John Kufuor, their choice had won the election, to buttress his assertion that traders do politics with prices of goods and services. Mr Nketiah also descend heavily on the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo -Addo, the two-time presidential candidate of the party and supporters to render an unqualified apology to Ghanaians, the President, the NDC and the Electoral Commission for alleging that they were cheated in the 2012 general election. Popularly known in political circles as �Doctor Asem Fofofro,� the maverick said Ghanaians will never forgive the NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo for doubting the integrity of the electoral commission and democracy in the country. Speaking in an interview with the DAILY HERITAGE, he revealed that per the NPP�s own internal wrangling towards the October 18 congress, one of the supporters of Alan Kyerematen and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, Hilda Addo made analytical calculation and factors that led to the loss of the party. According to him, the MP asserted that Nana Akufo-Addo cannot appeal to floating voters and that his figures obtained in 2008 first round election of 49% reduced to 47% in 2012. �This revelation alone by the MP has vindicated the claim that the electoral commission together with NDC stole the verdict for President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC,� he stated. He added that before Ghanaians can forgive NPP and Akufo-Addo, they have to organize a press conference and apologize to Ghanaians first. He called on President Mahama to reduce taxes on import duties to 30% from its current status which he said will definitely make him the only head of state to have listened to the cry of his people. Mr. Nketiah opined that farmers are complaining bitterly because they cannot buy farming implements such as cutlass which is sold around GH�30.00, while a bag of cement is between GH�38.00 and GH�40.00. On the issue of dollarization, Doctor Asem Foforo again called on the president to ban all Forex Bureaus in the country, stop the charging of school fees in dollars, hotel bills and other institutions that quote their figures in dollars because they are the major cause of cedi depreciation. He further challenged government to speed up the free education policy proposed and introduce the old system of tax which will help widen the tax net and increase revenue generation. He appealed to government communicators to strengthen the good news of the party and numerous programmes and policies being implemented in the country.