<<Print>>

Members of the Ashanti Regional Youth wing of the National Democratic Congress NDC are attending a three-day capacity building workshop aimed at attaining the party�s Operation One Million Votes in the region. It is on the theme: �Empowering the youth for a successful implementation of Operation One Million Votes in Election 2016.� Speaking at a three-day capacity building workshop, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo described as absurd the call by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for a new voters� register. He said the current register �is the most credible that the nation has produced and involved the participation of all the political parties in the country,� and as such did not understand why the NPP was demanding a new register. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the call by the opposition party was misplaced and should not be entertained. The workshop, which was organised for the youth organisers, their deputies and youth committee members, was to build their capacity to prepare them for the next presidential and parliamentary elections. No violence Mr Ofosu-Ampofo asked the electorate, particularly the party faithful, to dispel any fears that if the current voters� register was used for the 2016 election it would lead to violence. �There will be no violence and the NDC has the capacity, the men and women and the ability to win the next election,� he said. He commended the Ashanti Regional Youth wing of the party for coming up with such a workshop that would equip them with the necessary skills to deliver the one million votes in the region for the party. Party structures He, however, appealed to the youth of the party to use the structures of the party to resolve their grievances instead of issuing threats. He said the practice whereby the aggrieved members of the party resorted to the use of threats and ultimatums to seek redress for their grievances did not augur well for the image of the party and could have dire consequences on the party�s fortunes. According to him, the members had every right to voice their disapproval of happenings within the party and that there were laid-down structures within the party in seeking redress and urged party members to use those structures. Information The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Peter Anarfi-Mensah, said the party had undertaken a lot of development projects throughout the country, particularly in the Ashanti Region. For instance, he said, before the NDC took over the reins of governance from the NPP, there were less than 70 secondary schools in the region �but now, the number has reached 106, excluding the community secondary schools being built.� These, he said, were some of the remarkable achievements of the party in the region and asked the youth to avail themselves of this information to enable them to know how to propagate them. He said there were other great things the government was doing which most of the party members did not know of. He, thus, tasked them to seek information about the work of the government in the region �and to spread the good news to others.� The occasion was also used to inaugurate the Ashanti Region Youth Working Committee which would steer the affairs of the youth in the region towards achieving the one million votes objective. Participants The workshop was attended by youth organisers and their deputies from all the 47 constituencies in the region and the members of the youth committees. Also present at the meeting were the Minister of State at the presidency, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Alexander John Ackon, and National Youth Organiser, Siidi Abubakar Musah.