Ghana is moving forward and not retrogressing - President Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama said it would be difficult to reverse the development gear in view of the massive development infrastructure the country had witnessed in the last four years.

"Sometimes I wonder the kind of change some political parties are calling for. For us, the change of lives of Ghanaians and total transformation has already come, and there is no need to reverse that."

President Mahama, who was addressing a midnight rally at Ashaiman as part of his wrap-up campaign in the country, said: "This country is moving forward and will never retrogress."

The President had to address the rally midnight because he had addressed similar rallies and inaugurated development projects in the Volta Region to climax the 2016 campaign tour of the area.

He said he was confident of whatever he was doing as the President of the land and would not fear anything on his way to victory.

President Mahama said for the last four years he had accepted the development challenges of the country and sought solutions that were yielding significant dividends.

He particularly mentioned irregular power supply as one of the greatest challenges that bedevilled the country but through prudent measures his administration had been able to fix it.

"This is the kind of change we should be seeking and not those who call for empty change to replace a team that is already winning in every aspect of development," he added.

On the Presidential Debate organised by the National Commission on Civic Education, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and other collaborators, President Mahama said it was the best platform for candidates to showcase their political visions and challenged Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo to participate in subsequent ones.

He expressed surprise that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer failed to participate but rather chose to outline his vision on a private Accra-based radio station instead of a bigger platform.

President Mahama said the NPP Presidential Candidate's failure to participate in the debate was disrespect to Ghanaian voters and called on them to register their displeasure by voting massively for the National Democratic Congress.

"In other countries, it is normally the opposition parties that call for debates, but I’m surprised that in Ghana, a major opposition leader is rather running away from this big platform."

He said plans were far afoot to construct an 84-kilometre Tema-Akosombo railway line to facilitate the haulage of goods from the Tema Port through Akosmbo to Buipe in the Northern Region.

The completion of the project, he added, would reduce the cost of doing business from the southern sector to the northern sector as businesses would pick up their goods at Buipe rather than travelling all the way to Tema to do business.

President Mahama said the situation would also attract businesses from neighbouring Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.

On the economy, President Mahama gave the assurance that the elections would not generate any expenditure as government was cautious in spending on development projects.