The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has criticised the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) for doing very little to improve living conditions in rural communities after eight years in office.

He said the pace of development in rural areas since 2017 had been very slow with most projects initiated by the NDC going to waste for lack of commitment to complete them.

The NDC National Chairman who is currently campaigning in the Ashanti Region ahead of the 2024 general elections, said the plethora of challenges confronting rural communities he had visited was a betrayal of their loyalty to the party over the years.

“NPP has no passion for rural development so voting for them will only impoverish you,” he told the people of Anyinofi in the Sekyere Afram Plains District at a community engagement.

The engagement formed part of the second phase of the National Chairman’s Ashanti Regional campaign tour which is targeting rural communities.

Mr Nketia said his visits to various rural communities in the Ashanti Region portrayed a picture of general underdevelopment and lack of basic infrastructure in the stronghold of the ruling party.

He said the NPP had virtually collapsed the District Assembly Concept which is supposed to spur rural development by collateralising the District Assemblies Common Fund, thereby starving the assemblies the needed funds to develop their localities.

According to him, most assemblies are struggling to cater for their cost of operation let alone raise funds for capital projects due to government policies which have left the Common Fund empty.

As proponents of the District Assembly Concept and the District Assemblies Common Fund, the NDC is known for spearheading rural development under the Fourth Republic, Mr. Nketia noted.

“We are going to ensure that all the resources needed for the development of communities will be released to the assemblies for the benefit of citizenry,” he assured.

He reiterated the commitment of the NDC to remunerate Assembly Members to motivate them to discharge their duties diligently as part efforts to promote local governance.

He underlined the need for Ghanaians, especially rural dwellers to vote massively for the NDC to return to power to strengthen local governance which is the foundation of national development.

Ghana, he said, cannot continue the path of retrogression under the NPP, adding that, December 7 presents a golden opportunity for Ghanaians to bring back the NDC to reset every sector of the economy for accelerated development.