<<Print>>

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has called on the New Patriotic Party to encourage and maximise the formation of professional groupings as a strategy to prosecute the December general election.

He said he would envisage the formation of nurses and midwives network, farmers and fisherfolk networks of NPP as a prudent way to reach out to the masses to maximise votes.

Dr Prempeh said this during the first NPP Teachers Network Conference held in Ho, aimed to move the campaign to the grassroots sending government achievements to the people.

He said Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) had come to stay and government spent some GHC 800 Million to transform that sector.

He reassured that promotions in the service would be liberal and according to laid down rules.

The Minister said the concept of "legacy arrears" must not be misconstrued stating that not all teachers are owed by the government insisting that impression was flawed and called on teachers to justify their inclusion.

He said of the 1,840 teachers entitled to be paid their checks showed 774 of them were not qualified and about 35,513 in the GES system would benefit from responsibility allowance pointing out that only nine categories of staff were entitled to the offer.

Dr Prempeh said some 400,000 students were benefiting under the Free SHS and entreated teachers to lead the charge to renew the mandate of the President Akufo-Addo for more benefits to the teacher, more school infrastructure and more student benefits.

Mr Sammy Awuku, National Organiser of the NPP said the party detested any favours or help from the Electoral Commission to scale through the elections successfully and the party was stepping up its strategies into the next gear and campaign across the country and would not kowtow to any form of intimidation from their opponents.

He said the party was taking its messages to nurses, drivers, farmers, Motorbike riders, traders and all identifiable groups across the country.

He said NPP was poised to reduce the votes from the political World Bank to a rural bank and believed the NDC at best would try to catch up but time would disappoint them.

The National Organiser appealed to the party's structure not to be complacent but show greater determination to the campaign strategies and visit all the identifiable corners to solicit for votes.

He reminded the people that this year's election was a choice between "hope against hopelessness, prosperity against poverty, choice of competence against incompetence and choice of choosing white against black." Who chases his or her own spittle on the floor," he asked.

He said the Presidency was a serious business and not a platform for experimentation or correction of inherent or avoidable mistakes.

Mr Sam Pynne, Ashanti Regional Secretary of NPP entreated teachers not to be spectators, but relevant citizens by participating in Union activities as that provided the genuine platform for inclusion to make their voices heard.

He said NPP was the best political party to idealise the teachers' course to better their lot and urged them to be relevant to the party.

Dr Mrs Gertrude Quarshigah, National Coordinator, Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) said enrollment of beneficiary schools currently stood at 258,583 from the previous figure of 120,029 when the NPP-led government took office, constituting a 46 percent.