Nana Akufo-Addo kick-starts Greater Accra campaign

The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, yesterday kick-started his campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region with a courtesy call on the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa.

Accompanied by his running mate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and some leading members of the party, Nana Akufo-Addo formally announced his programme to interact with the electorate within the region, saying it was appropriate for the custodians of the area to be informed of his presence and plans.

The NPP flag bearer and his entourage were welcomed to the house by its President, Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku, and the  members.

Nana Akufo-Addo, who spoke in Ga to the admiration of the gathering, said it had become abundantly clear that the progress of the country had been reversed by the incompetent administration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) headed by President John Dramani Mahama.

Elusive prosperity

He said after almost eight years of mismanagement, the era of prosperity that Ghanaians yearned for had become elusive, largely due to lack of quality leadership capable of tackling the challenges that the country faced.

He observed that while the country abounded in natural wealth, its people were impoverished and facing numerous challenges through no fault of theirs.

Nana Akufo-Addo said it had become clear that the solid foundation that was laid by the Kufuor administration had been destroyed by the Mahama-led administration, saying the difference between the period of the NPP administration and now was  clear.

The future of Ghana under the NDC, he said, was bleak and that a new government of competence and quality leadership by the NPP was the surest solution to the many challenges that had plagued the country.

NPP blessed with quality human resource

He said the NPP was endowed with great human resource that the country required to turn its fortunes around, saying no party in the country could boast having better quality in human resource than the NPP.

When voted for, he said, the capital budget of the country for next year would be re-directed which would see the allocation of $1 million to each of the 275 constituencies in the country.

He said an NPP administration would not have to go and borrow that money from anywhere, saying the needed funding was already available.

He bemoaned the unacceptably high rate of youth unemployment in the country and said steps had to be taken to create job opportunities for the country’s teeming youth through the attraction of direct investment.

The NPP, he said, was a “business party” with the capacity to woo investors into the country who would revamp the dying economic potential of the country.

“There are possibilities but we need competent leadership to turn these possibilities into realities and only a government of the NPP can achieve that,” he said, adding that he was not making promises but proffering solutions to the challenges that confronted the country.

Condemn political troublemakers

Nana Akufo-Addo entreated the house to condemn any attempt by political vigilantes to cause problems in their various traditional areas.

He urged them to be prepared to tell such trouble causers that “we don’t want this kind of thing in our area”, so that peace would prevail.

The Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VII, who spoke on behalf of the house, said the visit by the flag bearer ahead of the start of his campaign was commendable and urged him to continue to preach peace wherever he goes, saying that with the message of peace, he was bound to be successful.

Nana Akufo-Addo later introduced the parliamentary aspirant for the Shai-Osudoku Constituency, Mr Stephen Nene Oyortey, to a huge gathering of party faithful at the Dodowa Lorry Park and urged them to ensure that they cast their votes for him as President and Mr Oyortey as Member of Parliament (MP).

The team then moved to the Adentan Constituency where the flag bearer was mobbed by a huge number of artisans, market women, drivers, students and office workers who had forced their way to catch a glimpse of him while making the “change” signal to indicate their preparedness to change government in the December polls.

He later addressed a rally at the Roman Park at Adentan Village where he introduced Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoah as the next MP for the area and urged the gathering to make the dream of change possible by voting for the NPP in both the presidential and the parliamentary elections.