Stop disparaging image of Volta Region — Abodakpi

THE Former Member of Parliament for Keta, Mr Dan Abodakpi, has described continuous allegations levelled against the Volta Region in the December 28, 2008 presidential run-off as lies and unfounded propaganda.
He has, therefore, entreated leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to stop disparaging the image of the region, because that had the tendency to undermine the unity, cohesion and stability of the country.
He said the NPP was just being irresponsible in their attempt to unnecessarily dent the image of the region as it continued to trumpet these allegations by giving the region an image it does not deserve.
Speaking in his capacity as the leader of the Volta Region Campaign Task Force of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at a press conference in Accra, he said soon after the December 28 presidential run-off, the NPP, sensing defeat in almost all the regions, engaged in a diabolical propaganda and name-calling of the region, but attempts to get these allegations stick to the region had failed, because they could not be substantiated as was indicated by the Electoral Commission (EC) during the declaration of the final result.
Mr Abodapki commended the Volta Regional Police Commander, Commander Dery, for the boldness he exhibited in coming forward to denounce the NPP’s allegations which were corroborated by the report of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), particularly at a point when it was not yet certain whether the NPP would lose power.
That, he said, had earned him a lot of respect and appreciation by Ghanaians.
Mr Abodakpi also drew attention to the fact that the outgoing Minister of Interior, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor had issued a public denial that not a single individual was murdered in the Volta Region during the run-off as alleged by the NPP Campaign Team and the leadership.
According to him, CODEO’s report indicated that election violence in the Ashanti Region had rather quadrupled from 12 to 48 between the December 7 polls and the December 28th polls, while that of the Volta Region had rather dropped from 12 to eight.
In the case of the Ashanti Region, he recalled that reports had been made to both the police and election observers as proof, and it was also widely reported by the media, whilst in the Volta Region, he was of the view that reports were not made because even if there were infractions, they were not of the magnitude that deserved police attention.
The polling results in the region, he said, showed clearly that the NPP had increased its votes in the run-off, from 93,000 to 106,000 between the two elections.
“This is an act the NPP should be grateful for, rather than attempting to damage the image of the region,” he added, and described that as an act that was only deepening the wedge already created by their forebears.