Don't 'joke' with December polls - Akufo-Addo

Residents in the Ashanti Region and Ghanaians in general must not joke with the 7 December 2016 elections, flag bearer of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo has said.

“This year’s election is about Ghana’s future. It is an election we cannot afford to joke with. Kumasi, Asanteman and Ghanaians should vote massively for the NPP, and send a strong signal that Ghanaians are ready and determined to change their circumstances of living,” Mr Akufo-Addo told supporters of the NPP in the region as he wrapped up his tour of the party’s stronghold.

Addressing artisans, carpenters and businesses owners at the Sokoban Wood Village, in the Nhyiaeso constituency, which was his last port of call, the NPP flag bearer noted that against a backdrop of an economy in tatters, declining growth rate in manufacturing, record levels of youth unemployment, rising cost of living, widespread corruption, and a collapsed NHIS, Ghanaians should show President Mahama the exit on December 7.

He urged the region to rally behind him and the parties 47 parliamentary candidates in this year’s elections.

Mr Akufo-Addo indicated that the party has fashioned out well-thought through policies, which include: the programme of rapid industrialisation of the Ghanaian economy; ‘1-District-1-Factory’ policy; ‘1-Village-1-Dam’ policy; the diversification of the country’s agriculture; the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy; and the setting up of an Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), amongst others.

These policies, he stressed, will return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity.

Specifically to the artisans and business owners at the Sokoban Wood Village, the NPP flag bearer assured that “we are coming to complete the 2nd phase of the wood village project. President Kufuor began this project, I am coming to complete it.”

Nana Akufo-Addo further assured that issues to deal the poor road network within the village, as well as the unstable nature of electricity supply, which is hampering smooth operations at the wood village, would be addressed when he wins this year’s elections.

“Just as Suame Magazine has become the artisanal/industrial hub in the Ashanti Region and in Ghana, my government will make sure that Sokoban becomes the hub of all issues relating to wood and its end products. All public contracts relating to the purchasing of wood or the manufacturing of wood related products will be done right here in Sokoban,” he stressed.

Under the government of President Mahama, the NPP flag bearer indicated that “Ghana has become too miserable. We are on a rich land, with all the natural resources at our disposal, and yet we are poor.”

“We, in the NPP, are coming into office to change these sad statistics and improve the living conditions of our people. All the policy interventions I have outlined will be implemented to the letter, when we come into office. I have too much love and respect for the Ghanaian people to make pledges I know I cannot keep.”