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THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) has witnessed an unprecedented increase in support and sympathy among large sections of the Ghanaian community in Germany within the last six months according to Kawaka Appiah, General Secretary for NPP-Germany. Addressing party supporters in Stuttgart over the weekend, he said six new party branches have been established within the last two months in Bremen, Hannover, Mainz, Koln, Munich and Darmstadt. Mr. Appiah noted that several factors including the economic crisis Ghana, the incompetence of the Mills-Mahama administration, massive corruption at all levels of government and the complete lack of focus explains why Ghanaians all over the world have become disillusioned with this government and are now turning to the NPP. The General Secretary pointed out that the failure of the NDC government is negatively affecting Ghanaians irrespective of whether they live in Ghana, Germany, USA, Canada, Italy or Australia adding �we may not be resident in Ghana, but we support our families in Ghana, have our investments in Ghana and hope to return to Ghana. Under the Mills-Mahama administration, the burden on Ghanaians in the Diaspora to support families at home has increased while the value on our investments is on a downward spiral.� According to him, government�s anti-business policies had led to the closure of some German-based Ghanaian businesses and cited an instance in 2008 when a 20ft container of used spare parts attracted a duty of GH�2,000. Today the same container costs more than GH�5,000 to clear he said adding that there has not been a corresponding increase in the services and that if anything, services have gotten worse. Used spare parts dealers are not the only businesses suffering under the anti-business policies of the current administration, he said. Cargo companies engaged in the shipment of personal belongings have also come under severe strain since the advent of the NDC government. He indicated that in the Stuttgart area alone, four Cargo companies owned by Ghanaians have suspended their business operations to Ghana in view of the exorbitant customs duties and the general high cost of doing business there. Mr. Appiah emphasized that the cumulative effect of all these problems is that it discourages Ghanaian businesses and accounts which is why some Ghanaian businessmen ship their goods through neighboring countries where the duty regime is more business-friendly. He consequently called for an urgent review of the customs/duties regime in Ghana to make it more transparent and business-friendly.