Dormaa Ahenkro (B/A), May 11, GNA - Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential aspirant in the 2012 Presidential election on Thursday reiterated that Ghana could only actualise its dream of becoming a wealthy and prosperous nation if the structure of the national economy was changed from dependency on the export of raw materials. The current global socio-economic development trends and dictates required that the base and foundation of the nation's economy must be science/technology- led and knowledge-driven, with due application of environmental best practices, he stressed.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng, an internationally renowned cardio thoracic surgeon, who began his campaign last Saturday, was addressing a meeting of polling station executives of the party at Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong-Ahafo Region.
The campaign slated to be formerly launched on Wednesday, May 19, at the Christ the King Hall in Accra, took the professor to 12 constituencies in the Region.
They included Tano North, Tano South, Asunafo North, Asunafo South, Asutifi North, Asutifi South, Sunyani East, Sunyani West, Brekum, Dormaa East, Dormaa West and Jaman South constituencies, where he implored party members to give him the mandate to lead the NPP in the next presidential election.
He told the would-be delegates to the party's upcoming congress at which the flag bearer would be elected, that a vote for him would signify a drastic change in the nation's socio-economic development.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng indicated that Ghana needed a visionary and pragmatic leader who was abreast with the complex issues of globalization and also understood what was needed to achieve socio-economic development, explaining that it revolved around commitment to, and effective application of, science and technology.
He said the poverty gap of the country resulted from the failure by successive governments to realize that science and technology under-pinned the development paradigm of all prosperous nations in this era, adding the Asian Tigers of South Korea, Malaysia and China were clear examples. Citing his experiences and achievements in the fields of medicine, management, administration and farming, Professor Frimpong-Boateng argued that he was the rightful candidate to lead the NPP to save the country from socio- economic stagnation.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng, therefore, appealed to the delegates to give him the party's mandate and subsequently assist in the campaign to wrestle political power from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2012 general election.
He debunked the heroic claim by some members of the NPP that they had suffered, sweated and toiled for the progress and stability of the party. The Presidential hopeful described those assertions as unjustifiable, saying that was not necessarily a qualification for one to be given the mandate as the party's flag bearer.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng explained that the real heroes who had suffered and toiled for the survival of the party were those who lost their lives, resulting in perpetual grief and pain for their parents and relatives during the events of 1995 "Kumepreko," demonstration, and the 2009 Chereponi by-election among others.
He intimated that he had been initiated into the United Party (UP) tradition as a boy in 1958 by his late grandfather, Opanin Kwame Appiah, a pillar of UP in the Atwima-Nwabiagya Constituency, adding that he had been involved in the affairs of the party ever since. Besides being a founding member of NPP in 1992, an active Kumepreko participant in 1995, offering financial support to some party members since 1992, and providing medical and surgical treatments to party members, he had also saved the lives of victims of violence of the Kumepreko in 1995, and at Chereponi and Yendi in 2009, he stated.
The NPP Presidential aspirant said his professional accomplishments had provided the pedestal for the necessary international good-will that would facilitate any attempt to obtain foreign assistance where necessary for the country. He added that the German Government would help efforts to improve primary health-care such as malaria treatment and eradication.
"Ghana is the only place where the German Government assisted in the establishment of the National Cardiothoracic Centre with supplies credit of 16 Million Deutsche Marks to provide equipment apart from the provision of seven personnel including Doctors, Nurses and Technicians whom they paid for seven years because they knew that I could handle the high-tech nature of the project"
Professor Frimpong-Boateng indicated. Mr Adusei Sarkodie, former Member of Parliament for the Atwima-Nwabiagya constituency and a member of the Professor's campaign team, described him as a unifier who would be acceptable to not only NPP followers but all Ghanaians.
He said Ghana had had enough of leaders with political science, sociology, military and legal backgrounds since independence but seemed to be "marking time" in the quest to better the lot of the people, hence this time the mantle of leadership should be given to someone with science and technology background for a change in the country's development paradigm. He, therefore, said among the party's presidential aspirants Professor Frimpong-Boateng possessed the requisite credentials to lead the party and the country.
Dr. Kofi Sarpong, a medical practitioner and an executive member of the NPP in the United States of America, said among the five candidates Professor Frimpong-Boateng was the one with the pedigree and without any blemish to attract floating voters to enable the NPP to recapture political power in 2012. 11 May 10
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