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Yesterday, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Presidential Candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party, rolled out his party's vision for the country after President Kufuor's tenure of office ends on January 6, 2009. |
The vision is captured in four thematic themes: the continuing consolidation of Ghana’s democracy, modernisation of the society, structural transformation of economy, and the full engagement of the nation in the process of regional and continental integration.
This plan, as well as a vigorous trumpeting of the Kufuor administration’s achievements weighed against the difficulties it faced when it took office in 2001 and the record of the opposition National Democratic Congress, will form the basis of the candidate’s message for the electorate going into the December Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
At a heavily attended ceremony of party faithfuls and journalists in Accra, the former Foreign Minister asked, "so what is our task now, as the leading party?"
The answer, he said "is to mobilise the masses of our people to overcome the challenges to our development and ensure that our development journey is a conscious and all-inclusive one".
"It will require the nation talking to itself, learning from its past, listening to its children, visionaries and its own experts, and thinking for itself".
According to the Presidential candidate "that is the only path to the construction of the self reliant, independent, confident Ghana that the founders of our tradition dreamt about some 60 years ago".
He said his leadership will transform the economy by focusing on the production of added-value goods and services and pursuing a clear policy of Ghanaian Economic Empowerment that will encourage the accumulation and investment of Ghanaian capital, locally and from the Diaspora, and making more Ghanaians winners in the global economy, while investing a significant percentage of our GDP in research and development.
His government, he assured, will empower the citizenry to face the economic challenges of the times, adding that the next NPP administration will strengthen the faith of the Ghanaian in multi party democracy, promote a strong advocacy of individual responsibility and self discipline, and an "unyielding belief in the I can do spirit of the Ghanaian and a quality leadership which is guided by faith in God".
Promising to conduct an issue based campaign, Nana Akufo-Addo said one of the cardinal themes of the NPP’S campaign would be a comparison of the P/NDC 20 years in government and the 8 year performance of the NPP government.
The "inescapable conclusion from this comparison is that the 8 year NPP era has proved at least twice as productive for the development of Ghana as the 20 years of PNDC/NDC rule".
The flag bearer recounted how the NPP inherited a bankrupt economy, a demoralised populace and a body politic scarred by an authoritarian culture.
"Never in the history of Ghana, has freedom so flourished as under NPP government" he stressed, and maintained that "the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law has made the Ghanaian media the freest in Africa",
Nana Akufo-Addo recounted some of the achievements of the NPP government, including the stabilization of the economy with minimal inflation, lowered interest rates and a quadrupled Gross Domestic Product, from the $3.9 billion in 2001 to the current $15 billion.
The former Foreign Minister said the prudent macro economic policies of the NPP administration has caused the drop of the average lending rate from 47% in the year 2000 to 24.2% today, increasing credit to the private sector upwards from the less than $400 million in 2000 to nearly $4billion in2007, representing a 1000%increase.
Enrollment at the six public universities has doubled under the NPP government, with the polytechnics recording higher enrolment.
"Today, Ghana’s daily minimum wage has shot up to GH¢ 2.24 equivalent to US $2.34 from 96 US cents operated by the NDC throughout the 1990s"
Based on its achievements, Ghanaians would surely return the NPP to power come the December polls, he declared with confidence.
The NPP also out doored its Election ’08 campaign team.
The team consists of an Advisory Board under the chairmanship of Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the party; A K Deku, acting Chairman of the Party’s Council of Elders; Kwadwo Okyere Mpiani; Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs; Agnes Okudjeto and Alhaji Abdul Rahman Musah, both National Vice Chairpersons, General Secretary Nana Ohene Ntow and the presidential candidate. It also includes all the former aspirants in the NPP’s flagbearer race.
The campaign would be run by a 23-member National Campaign Committee under the chairmanship of Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, who was President Kufuor’s Campaign Manager in his back to back successes in 2000 and 2004.
It will consist of five national officers - the National Chairman, the General Secretary, the National Organiser, the National Women’s Organiser and the National Youth Organiser – and the Chairpersons of eight Specialised Committees, namely Communications – Dr Arthur Kennedy; Electoral Affairs –Dan Botwe; Fund Raising –Hackman Owusu-Agyemang; Identifiable Groups –Alan Kyerematen; Manifesto –Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto; Operations –Nich Adi-Dako; Research –Victor Newman; Security – Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor; and Traditional Affairs –Felix Owusu-Adjapong.
The team will also consist of the Campaign Director, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, to be assited by two deputies, Roland Saka for the Northern Sector and Sophia Horner-Sam, for the Southern Sector.
The team will be completed by the Yaw Osafo Maafo, MP, Mawusi Awitty, Hajia Rukia Ahmed and Candidate.
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