I'll Run For President -Kofi Wayo

... Kufuor has surround himself with people who lie to him
MR. CHARLES Kofi Wayo, the self-made dollar millionaire and now a constant pain in the neck of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) could not help but shed tears upon realizing the degree of poverty of the people in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar area.

Mr. Wayo, who is also a leading member of the NPP had gone to visit the chiefs and people of Kraboa in the Ayensuano constituency of the Eastern Region last Saturday.

He told the people that although it’s difficult to repair in a few months or days, the damage that has been caused the Ghanaian economy over the last 20 years, it should not be impossible for a leader who has a clear vision to be able to map out strategies for taking the people out of the economic woods and thus bringing sunshine smiles to the faces of Ghanaians.

According to Wayo it is for these reasons that he sometimes criticizes the Kufuor government although he is still a member of the NPP.

He took opportunity to give a hint that he will go independent in the next general elections if things are allowed to go the way they are. “I’ll run for President or even if it means going independent.

Wayo said, “I have not got enough money, but I have the desire to help adding NPP is good, only the administration is bad. There’s no good leadership”.

“I used to sell iced-water and my mother too used to sell iced-water”. That’s how I saw life and that’s how I understand it.

According to Wayo, he started entertaining the idea of becoming President of Ghana, way back in the 60s when he was still young adding gaining political power has always been my dream and not just a passion.

He explained that some people think he joined the NPP by accident, but according to him, he is a lover of democracy, having lived in America and imbibed the tenets of democracy, human rights, justice and development in freedom.

A political party is like a football team, if the club does not play well, it does not mean the club is bad, but it may be that the team’s strategy or tactics is bad.

However, in the estimation of Wayo there are some people whom he thinks are doing well in the NPP administration, these people according to him are, Mr. Kwabena Agyepong, the Deputy Government Spokesperson and Mr. Dan Botwe, the General Secretary of the NPP.

It was here that Wayo said he himself used to sell iced-water to assist his mother while he was a child at Kofi Pare.

He said: “ I fought for NPP to win the elections but Kufuor has surround himself with people who lie to him.

At Kraboa he told the people that he had always had the wish to do something for them but because he has no political power, he has not been able to do much for them. Upon hearing this, the people started shouting “Baba Nima, Nana Nima, we love you because you love us”.

He donated ?1 million towards their school project and promised to give more in the future.

Mr. Kofi Wayo urged the people to demand accountability from the Kufuor government because according to him it is the government that people pay taxes to and not to an individual.

The ‘Nimaboy’ stated that at a point in time when it dawned on him that the former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was ruling this country with iron-hands, he contacted some people outside Ghana to consider the possibility of overthrowing the (P)NDC government so as to give Ghanaians their true freedom and justice.

According to Wayo, he contributed a lot toward the victory of the NPP in the 2000 elections, but he personally feels that President Kufuor was too soft on his Ministers and other appointees. Wayo noted that the extravagant lifestyle of some of the Ministers in the Kufuor government and their refusal to come down to earth to empathise with the plight of the masses coupled with their big English and other acts, are slowly but gradually causing disaffection for the government and warned that if nothing drastic was done about it, the NPP might not win the next general elections.

“I’m still NPP. My father was imprisoned by the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) so I cannot be Nkrumaist. I can’t also join NDC. I love NPP President Kufuor is a good man but he has surrounded himself with a bad team”, he pointed out.

“The difference between NPP regime and NDC is that Kufuor would not kill but the NDC did. If you give them a chance to come back to power, they would arrest you and kill you one more time”, he warned.

Kofi Wayo conceded for the first time, that when the NPP won power, people had thought that in view of his experience in the oil and gas industry, President Kufuor would put him in the front-line to tap his knowledge. When the people asked why he was not being consulted in taking decisions that affect the lives of Ghanaians Mr. Wayo said that President Kufuor has surrounded himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear and not what ought to be done to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians.

He pledged that if Ghanaians vote for him to become President, he would be able to transform the economy by embarking on developmental projects to provide jobs for the people by first adding value to the country’s raw- materials to make them competitive on the world market. He swore that if he failed to deliver on these promises, he would resign from office in six months.

“If I’m President, I would make sure that Ghanaians aged between 6-18 enjoy fee free education. This is a universal human rights you can’t continue to deny the people”, he stressed.

Asked whether he would ever quit the NPP, Mr. Wayo gave assurance that at the moment, he has no such intention but would consider doing so if things continue to go the way they are currently.

“We promised to liberate Ghanaians from strangulating poverty, we promised financial prudence, social justice and accountability, yet it seems to me that all this government is interested in is to travel abroad and earn fat per diem , he said.

He charged that the President, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and other persons in the NPP government use the per diem to cushion their pockets as a clever way of recouping the monies that were used to finance their electoral campaigns.

“They use such travels to make their money”, he charged.

The Ministers are buying cross-country vehicles and travelling by heart while the roads to many villages and hamlets are bad; this is very sad indeed, slammed Wayo.

He therefore urged the electorate to in future vote for people who are already-made so that when they come to power, they would not come and take monies from the national kitty to line their pockets.

At Otoase, one of the villages Wayo visited, he shed tears openly when the people told him of their plight.

There were some kids who had been sent out of school because their teacher said they should not wear ‘charlie wote’ to school.

When Wayo asked the cost of school sandals over there, the children said ?25,000 each. Wayo therefore gave them monies to buy the sandals.

Wayo revealed that it has come to his attention that his regular talk-show programmes on radio is a source of worry in government circles. He however stated that so long as he lives he would not give up on his crusade against bad governance.

“So long as I live, I will continue to speak my mind, on radio in the newspapers, anywhere”, he served notice.

From there, he went to Akwamu Amanfo. It was obvious that most of the inhabitants had gone to work on their farms but the few that heard of his arrival trooped in their numbers just to catch a glimpse of him.

They indicated that they wanted Kofi Wayo to run for office as President and that they would vote for him adding that they did not have hope in the Kufuor government being able to deliver on its electoral promises.

At Craboa, Enfaso and other areas where he visited, the people said they have regretted voting for the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayansuano constituency because he does not visit them.

Wayo replied that he was no longer interested in becoming MP but rather wants to go for the big one – i.e., become President of the Republic of Ghana so as to show Ghanaians the stuff he is made of.

The visit also took him to Kofisa, where Wayo told them that if they assist support in his bid to be given the mandate to rule Ghana, he would endeavour to change their lives within two to six months.

Pastor Seth Akunnor, of the Kofisa Baptist Church, advised Mr. Wayo to be a little patient since patience moves mountains.

He acknowledged that although it was true the NPP government had not performed to the admiration of Ghanaians, he was of the view that the party needed some more time to perform and pledged that if the Kufuor government failed, he would not hesitate to use prayers to influence the electorate to give Mr. Wayo a chance to become president of the Republic of Ghana since it seems to him that he (Wayo) meant well.

The chief of Otoase, Nana Odoi I, an ex-soldier who saw action in Burma and East Africa revealed that he was touched by the humility and candour of Mr. Wayo and pledged his support and that of the Otoase people in Kofi Wayo’s desire to contest the country’s 2004 presidential elections.

Fired by the desire to bail my people out of poverty I decided to relocate in Ghana a few years ago so that I would contribute my quota toward the development of Ghana, Mr. Wayo explained.

According to him, it is these that fuelled his emotion to contribute his quota towards solving the acute water problems of the people of Taifa just a few weeks after he planned to settle in Ghana.

... Kufuor has surround himself with people who lie to him
MR. CHARLES Kofi Wayo, the self-made dollar millionaire and now a constant pain in the neck of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) could not help but shed tears upon realizing the degree of poverty of the people in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar area.

Mr. Wayo, who is also a leading member of the NPP had gone to visit the chiefs and people of Kraboa in the Ayensuano constituency of the Eastern Region last Saturday.

He told the people that although it’s difficult to repair in a few months or days, the damage that has been caused the Ghanaian economy over the last 20 years, it should not be impossible for a leader who has a clear vision to be able to map out strategies for taking the people out of the economic woods and thus bringing sunshine smiles to the faces of Ghanaians.

According to Wayo it is for these reasons that he sometimes criticizes the Kufuor government although he is still a member of the NPP.

He took opportunity to give a hint that he will go independent in the next general elections if things are allowed to go the way they are. “I’ll run for President or even if it means going independent.

Wayo said, “I have not got enough money, but I have the desire to help adding NPP is good, only the administration is bad. There’s no good leadership”.

“I used to sell iced-water and my mother too used to sell iced-water”. That’s how I saw life and that’s how I understand it.

According to Wayo, he started entertaining the idea of becoming President of Ghana, way back in the 60s when he was still young adding gaining political power has always been my dream and not just a passion.

He explained that some people think he joined the NPP by accident, but according to him, he is a lover of democracy, having lived in America and imbibed the tenets of democracy, human rights, justice and development in freedom.

A political party is like a football team, if the club does not play well, it does not mean the club is bad, but it may be that the team’s strategy or tactics is bad.

However, in the estimation of Wayo there are some people whom he thinks are doing well in the NPP administration, these people according to him are, Mr. Kwabena Agyepong, the Deputy Government Spokesperson and Mr. Dan Botwe, the General Secretary of the NPP.

It was here that Wayo said he himself used to sell iced-water to assist his mother while he was a child at Kofi Pare.

He said: “ I fought for NPP to win the elections but Kufuor has surround himself with people who lie to him.

At Kraboa he told the people that he had always had the wish to do something for them but because he has no political power, he has not been able to do much for them. Upon hearing this, the people started shouting “Baba Nima, Nana Nima, we love you because you love us”.

He donated ?1 million towards their school project and promised to give more in the future.

Mr. Kofi Wayo urged the people to demand accountability from the Kufuor government because according to him it is the government that people pay taxes to and not to an individual.

The ‘Nimaboy’ stated that at a point in time when it dawned on him that the former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was ruling this country with iron-hands, he contacted some people outside Ghana to consider the possibility of overthrowing the (P)NDC government so as to give Ghanaians their true freedom and justice.

According to Wayo, he contributed a lot toward the victory of the NPP in the 2000 elections, but he personally feels that President Kufuor was too soft on his Ministers and other appointees. Wayo noted that the extravagant lifestyle of some of the Ministers in the Kufuor government and their refusal to come down to earth to empathise with the plight of the masses coupled with their big English and other acts, are slowly but gradually causing disaffection for the government and warned that if nothing drastic was done about it, the NPP might not win the next general elections.

“I’m still NPP. My father was imprisoned by the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) so I cannot be Nkrumaist. I can’t also join NDC. I love NPP President Kufuor is a good man but he has surrounded himself with a bad team”, he pointed out.

“The difference between NPP regime and NDC is that Kufuor would not kill but the NDC did. If you give them a chance to come back to power, they would arrest you and kill you one more time”, he warned.

Kofi Wayo conceded for the first time, that when the NPP won power, people had thought that in view of his experience in the oil and gas industry, President Kufuor would put him in the front-line to tap his knowledge. When the people asked why he was not being consulted in taking decisions that affect the lives of Ghanaians Mr. Wayo said that President Kufuor has surrounded himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear and not what ought to be done to alleviate the suffering of Ghanaians.

He pledged that if Ghanaians vote for him to become President, he would be able to transform the economy by embarking on developmental projects to provide jobs for the people by first adding value to the country’s raw- materials to make them competitive on the world market. He swore that if he failed to deliver on these promises, he would resign from office in six months.

“If I’m President, I would make sure that Ghanaians aged between 6-18 enjoy fee free education. This is a universal human rights you can’t continue to deny the people”, he stressed.

Asked whether he would ever quit the NPP, Mr. Wayo gave assurance that at the moment, he has no such intention but would consider doing so if things continue to go the way they are currently.

“We promised to liberate Ghanaians from strangulating poverty, we promised financial prudence, social justice and accountability, yet it seems to me that all this government is interested in is to travel abroad and earn fat per diem , he said.

He charged that the President, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and other persons in the NPP government use the per diem to cushion their pockets as a clever way of recouping the monies that were used to finance their electoral campaigns.

“They use such travels to make their money”, he charged.

The Ministers are buying cross-country vehicles and travelling by heart while the roads to many villages and hamlets are bad; this is very sad indeed, slammed Wayo.

He therefore urged the electorate to in future vote for people who are already-made so that when they come to power, they would not come and take monies from the national kitty to line their pockets.

At Otoase, one of the villages Wayo visited, he shed tears openly when the people told him of their plight.

There were some kids who had been sent out of school because their teacher said they should not wear ‘charlie wote’ to school.

When Wayo asked the cost of school sandals over there, the children said ?25,000 each. Wayo therefore gave them monies to buy the sandals.

Wayo revealed that it has come to his attention that his regular talk-show programmes on radio is a source of worry in government circles. He however stated that so long as he lives he would not give up on his crusade against bad governance.

“So long as I live, I will continue to speak my mind, on radio in the newspapers, anywhere”, he served notice.

From there, he went to Akwamu Amanfo. It was obvious that most of the inhabitants had gone to work on their farms but the few that heard of his arrival trooped in their numbers just to catch a glimpse of him.

They indicated that they wanted Kofi Wayo to run for office as President and that they would vote for him adding that they did not have hope in the Kufuor government being able to deliver on its electoral promises.

At Craboa, Enfaso and other areas where he visited, the people said they have regretted voting for the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayansuano constituency because he does not visit them.

Wayo replied that he was no longer interested in becoming MP but rather wants to go for the big one – i.e., become President of the Republic of Ghana so as to show Ghanaians the stuff he is made of.

The visit also took him to Kofisa, where Wayo told them that if they assist support in his bid to be given the mandate to rule Ghana, he would endeavour to change their lives within two to six months.

Pastor Seth Akunnor, of the Kofisa Baptist Church, advised Mr. Wayo to be a little patient since patience moves mountains.

He acknowledged that although it was true the NPP government had not performed to the admiration of Ghanaians, he was of the view that the party needed some more time to perform and pledged that if the Kufuor government failed, he would not hesitate to use prayers to influence the electorate to give Mr. Wayo a chance to become president of the Republic of Ghana since it seems to him that he (Wayo) meant well.

The chief of Otoase, Nana Odoi I, an ex-soldier who saw action in Burma and East Africa revealed that he was touched by the humility and candour of Mr. Wayo and pledged his support and that of the Otoase people in Kofi Wayo’s desire to contest the country’s 2004 presidential elections.

Fired by the desire to bail my people out of poverty I decided to relocate in Ghana a few years ago so that I would contribute my quota toward the development of Ghana, Mr. Wayo explained.

According to him, it is these that fuelled his emotion to contribute his quota towards solving the acute water problems of the people of Taifa just a few weeks after he planned to settle in Ghana.