Seven National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament from the Upper West Region have alleged that government is using the Youth in Employment Programme to create jobs for only members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and party sympathizers. "It is nothing short of an NPP youth recruitment drive. If one does not bear an NPP card and is not ready to register as a member of the party, one is automatically disqualified from obtaining employment under the programme". The Member of Parliament for Jirapa, Edward Salia, said this at a news conference at Wa to climax the MPs' five-day tour of all the 10 constituencies in the region. The MPs were Alban Bagbin, Minority leader, Mathias Puozah, Nadowli East, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Wa West, Rashid Pelpuo, Wa Central, Dr Benjamin Kumbour, Lawra/Nandom, and Mrs. Alice Boon, Jirapa. Mr. Salia said Ghanaians were going to give their votes to the NDC in the 2008 election after having gone through hardship under the NPP government. He said their studies on the ground proved that Ghanaians were bent on returning NDC to power because of the leadership qualities they saw in Prof John Atta Mills and urged all party loyalists to keep campaigning to win more members. "Upper Westerners have only one request: that we salvage them from neglect, discrimination and suffering," he said. Mr Salia also accused the government of not doing enough for a smooth pilgrimage for Muslims and called on the President and the Vice President to apologize to all pilgrims and Ghanaians in general. On the Millennium Challenge Account, he said it was a testimony to the fact that the NPP government had neglected the north by not including the Upper East and West regions in the programme. GNA