AMPOFO PAYS HISTORIC VISIT TO NPP OFFICES ...Urges collaboration in governance (PAGE 16)

THE NEW Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, made history on Tuesday by doing what some might consider the unthinkable.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who resumed duty a day earlier than scheduled, put aside his busy schedule and visited the regional office of the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to call for collaboration to move the region’s development agenda forward.
Mr Ofosu Ampofo, who was enthusiastically received and was hugged by the NPP executive, said followers of the NDC and NPP should not be enemies, and that he was prepared to listen to any advice that would emanate from the NPP which would improve the living standards of the people in the region.
“We are one people, so do not allow politics, which is just ideological difference, to divide us; let us unite, be one another’s keeper and contribute to the welfare of the people whose interests we all seek”, he told the gathering.
The visit which was the first of its kind in the history of multi-party democracy in the region, witnessed the regional minister who was accompanied by Messrs Julius Debrah, Tawiah Boateng, Regional Chairman and Secretary respectively of the NDC, and other regional executive of the party interacting with the NPP executive, led by Alhaji Omar Bodinga, the First Vice Chairman in the region.
At the meeting which was conducted in a friendly atmosphere, it was agreed that another meeting involving the youth organisers of the two political parties in the region be held to iron out any differences with the potential of negatively affecting the security and orderly development of the region.
This, according to them, had become necessary since the youth groups in the two political parties had been accused of causing disturbances in the region.
That decision was taken after Mr Tawiah Boateng, in the course of the discussions, suggested that the best way to ensure peace in the region was to properly guide the youth, particularly at political gatherings, so that they would not cause any disturbances.
Alhaji Bodinga gave the assurance that the regional branch of the NPP would ensure that the party’s members would peacefully co-exist with members and supporters of the NDC, adding: “We are all from the same family called Ghana”.
For his part, the Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Agobo who described Mr Ofosu Ampofo’s visit as historic, said such a visit should be emulated by other political heads to cement relations between opposing camps.
Others who were present at the gathering were Mr Julius Debrah, Regional Chairman of the NDC; Alhaji Yusif Ahmed, Regional Youth Organiser of the NPP, and Madam Grace Ateffa, Regional Women’s Organiser of the NPP.