By J. K. Nabary
Winneba (C/R), Aug. 16, GNA – Dr James Kofi Annan, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate (PC) for the Effutu constituency, has cautioned Ghanaians, particularly those within his area, against being deceived or lured with money to vote for the wrong persons.
He claimed that the NDC was the only party that could rescue the country from its present predicament of poor economic performance and general hardships being faced by majority of the citizenry.
Dr Annan was speaking at a seminar organised by the Tertiary Education Network (TEIN) of the University of Education Winneba (UEW) Chapter, to climax the celebration of their 20th Anniversary.
The event was on the theme: “20 years of Intellectual Activism; the Role of TEIN in Shaping Public Policies and Political discourse,” and was graced by the Central Regional and Effutu Constituency Executives of the NDC and other party members, who applauded the Network for its hard work.
As part of the celebration, the TEIN members embarked on a float through the principal streets of Winneba, an engagement with their colleague students and citizens of Effutu on the need for them to vote for Mr John Dramani Mahama as President and Dr Annan, as Effutu Member of Parliament.
Dr Annan said the theme for the anniversary reflected the network’s commitment over the years, championing the values of the NDC for the people to continue to believe in the party.
Currently, it was working tirelessly, reaching out to people to educate them on what the NDC had done, and its vision for the country should they be given the mandate on December 07, Dr Annan said.
He said although the population of Awutu Senya East were known to be about 300,000, while that of Effutu was a little over 100,000 and alleged that these constituencies recorded high registration numbers and transfers during the recent limited registration exercise and called for investigations.
Dr Annan said strategies and programmes of the party must target floating voters and that all members should join the rescue mission because winning an election, was about numbers.
Mr Zainul Deen, the President of the Network in his address, said TEIN had been a shining example of intellectual activism for the past 20 years, steadfastly influencing political discourse and public policy.
He also said creative thinking, intense discussions and critical thinking had been part of their activities over the years, adding that their members had persistently sparked important dialogues by questioning the status quo.
“We have taken on difficult problems, such as social justice and economic inequality, continuously pushed for evidence-based policy solution, criticising unpopular and misguided government policies for years, while embracing successful and game-changing policies like the former President Mahatma’s 24-hour economy policy,” he stated.
Mr Deen indicated that said TEIN must be well-equipped and resourced to do its work well both on the campus and outside for the party.
He advocated for the leadership of the party to nurture the youth, grant them scholarship to advance their education and make employment opportunity available to them to encourage them to work even harder for the party.
Dr James Annan later presented an undisclosed amount of money to the president of the network to be shared to 20 of their members, who had earlier called on him for support to pay their school fees.
He joined other dignitaries to cut a cake to symbolise the celebration of the anniversary.
GNA