President John Agyekum Kufuor has assured the nation that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) would respect the outcome of Election 2008.
He said as law abiding as the party was it would go by the verdict of Ghanaians and expressed the hope that the other political parties would do the same.
"What we would not allow, is for anybody to use illegitimate means to usurp power", he said, in response to a question at the Seventh Peoples' Assembly held at the Sekondi High School.
One Dr Asemfofro had sought to know from President Kufuor, if the ruling party would readily accept to let go its hold on power in the event of defeat at the polls.
Attended by Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, some members of the Council of State and key Government Ministers and Officials, this year's Assembly, which was under the theme "Ghana After 50: Looking into the Future with Hope", attracted high patronage.
President Kufuor, earlier in his opening address, allayed any suspicions about the openness and transparency of the elections, saying, there was no legitimate cause to expect any negative developments during the forthcoming polls.
He said the important thing was for the entire society to be alert to ensure that due process was adhered to at all times to make the results credible and acceptable to all.
The Peoples' Assembly, an innovation of President Kufuor's Government, provides the platform for Ghanaians to have face-to-face interaction with their elected Leader and to ask him questions on issues of governance bothering their minds.
Questions and concerns raised at this last edition of the Assembly ranged from the performance of the economy; the alleged sale of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB); need to improve the service conditions of the Security Agencies; administration of justice; investments; the killing of some Ghanaians in The Gambia; education to employment.
On the ADB, President Kufuor dismissed as untrue claims that it was being sold out, explaining that the Government was only arranging for partnership with investors to raise the capital base of the Bank.
The negative twist and propaganda being bandied about, he said, was not helpful to the nation.
He said it was also important to appreciate that it was through the spread of investment that more jobs could be created and money put into the pockets of the people.
Responding to the Gambia killings, President Kufuor, said the two countries had agreed to submit the matter to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) for thorough investigation.
This had been put on the agenda of the sub-Regional body at its meeting scheduled for Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, this week.
Touching on fuel prices, he said, a barrel of crude oil that sold at about 18 dollars in 2000 had now hit about 100 dollars and asked the people to accept to bear with the ex-pump price.
President Kufuor in an answer to another question this time, about alleged plans by Government to stop the mass cocoa spraying and the application of hi-tech fertilizers, said cocoa productivity was in national interest.
The Government was targeting an all time record cocoa production of one million tonnes within the next three years and without the mass spraying and fertilizer application, it was going to be difficult to achieve that target.
Source: GNA
