The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Okere in the Eastern region, Dan Kweku Botwe has called on Ghanaians to punish the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2012 General elections for lying their way into power. Mr. Dan Botwe who was a panelist on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday said then Candidate Mills, supported by former President Rawlings led a campaign of deception against the NPP government, accusing the appointees of corruption and creating the impression that many government officials at the time will be jailed for corrupt practices if the NDC won the elections. He said on assuming office, President Mills realised the extent of the lies they told Ghanaians and that is why the government has lost almost all the cases against former government appointees. He stated that the bashing of President Mills by former President Rawlings and some NDC members such as MP for Lower Manya Mr. Michael Teye Nyaunu are not far-fetched as they are just asking the President to fulfill the promise he made to Ghanaians prior to the 2008 elections. “Nyaunu believes what President Mills campaigned on and so there is no difference and Nyaunu is just asking the president why he is not doing what he said he will,” Mr Botwe said. He indicated that the failure of the NDC to jail any NPP former government appointee vindicates the NPP’s position that President Mills and Mr Rawlings were just perpetuating lies for political expediency. He however stressed that every president has a four year term and that people should stop creating the impression that the president has eight years to be in office, adding there is no reason why someone should not contest a sitting president and as former General Secretary of the NPP, he would not have stopped anyone who wanted to contest former president Kufuor after his first term in office. He accused the President of abusing incumbency by bringing the whole nation to a halt just for the sake of picking up nomination forms, insisting this was a “shameless abuse of incumbency.” Legal Practioner, Egbert Fabille Jnr. a panelist on the programme said Nana Konadu’s candidature is a clear indication of the internal political struggle within the NDC. He said “the ongoing battle for the soul of the NDC” is two pronged: Those who want to take the party back to “where it belongs" and the others who want to “democratize’ the party. He maintained that the issue would not have been so heated up if another personality was challenging the president but the case has been worsened because it is the wife of the former President. Mr. Fabille sounded a note of caution to supporters of President Mills, advising them not to discount the Rawlings factor because anything can happen before the July 8 congress. He however says he will be very surprised if former President Rawlings and Mrs Rawlings support President Mills if they lose the elections at the congress. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana