The time has come for Ghanaians to vote out President Kufuor and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, Mr Samuel Armah, Odododiodoo Constituency Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on Friday, he said the electorate should ensure the exit of the NPP from power in the 2008 elections because of the failure of the government to manage the economy of the country and to deliver on its electoral promises. He said the current energy crisis facing the country was one of the factors that showed that the NPP administration was not in the position to manage the affairs of the country to ensure socio-economic development. Mr. Armah pointed out that the crisis was not a sudden one but a problem that had been lingering on for sometime now; "the energy crisis has been hanging on our necks for sometime now and any serious government should have had contingency plans both short, medium and long term to deal with it by now". "The energy crisis leading to the load shedding and power rationing is over six months old and there is no hope that it is going to be over soon with the confusing statements as to when it is going to be solved", he said. The NDC Constituency Organiser noted that instead of telling the people about the true situation, experts, politicians and the Volta River Authority seem to be confusing the issue with contradictory statements. Mr Armah stated that, "the problem should be seen as a national crisis, which should be tackled from a non-partisan point view since such matters do not differentiate from an NPP or an NDC and affect all," he said. The government should consider the offer by the NDC Flag bearer, Professor Atta Mills, to provide energy experts to help solve the problem for the benefit of the people and the country. He said the statement from government functionaries and officials that the energy crisis would be a thing of the past when the West African Gas Pipeline Project is completed was only a ploy to throw dust into the eyes of the people. "The availability of cheap gas by its self is not going to add any amount of megawatts to the country's energy supply without facilities such as thermal plants in place", he said and asked, "How many of the plants have been provided all this while apart from the Aboadze one built during the NDC era?" "Talk is cheap but deeds are honourable", he said and asked the government to solve the problems of the country instead of what he called "Pontifications". Mr Armah expressed concern about the upsurge in cocaine related cases some involving highly placed people and urged the government as a matter of urgency to "nip such matters in the bud" to save the people from the "bad name" that the "Coke scandals" were having on Ghanaians. He said that Ghanaians should be saved from the embarrassment that they are "coke carriers and couriers of narcotic drugs at airports and points of entries outside the country where they are subjected to humiliating searches for drugs". The NDC Constituency Organiser also expressed concern about the security problem in the country and asked the government to ensure that the perpetuators of what had come to be known as "Contract Killings" were apprehended and brought to book to guarantee their safety. Mr Armah complained about hardship in the country and said, "even though they say inflation is now single digit as compared to the 42% in the NDC time, cement which was selling at 27,500 a bag is now 85,000 cedis while a bottle of coca-cola was selling at 600 cedis is now 3,500 cedis, are we going or coming," he asked. He asked the government to strive to show that it was not connected to "the cocaine menace, which can put the economy in shambles with its associated money laundering". "Ghanaians wanted a change of government in the 2000 elections and voted the NDC out of office but having tried the NPP for two terms the difference is clear", Mr Armah said. He called on the electorate to vote for Prof Atta Mills and the NDC in the 2008 elections for good, humane and gentle governance. Source: GNA