The President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, thanking God and man for his elevation to the highest office of the land, sounded a clarion call to the citizenry to renew their strength and resources to get on with the big task ahead.
“Even as we praise God for his immense mercy to Ghana, we also know there is very hard work ahead of us...it is a task that we can and will perform with your support and with your hard work and with your unceasing prayers and with the full blessing of the Almighty God,” he declared.
“The battle has been the Lord’s,” Nana Addo said repeatedly in his 18-minute Thanksgiving Speech, acknowledging that there was a stronger hand above the efforts of men, which had crowned his four-decade political journey towards getting the assent of the Ghanaians to make the nation great and strong.
“Our stamina has been tested, but we kept going in the full belief that the battle was the Lords…the going was not easy, the road had been rough, the valleys were deep and the mountains were steep, we stumbled many times along the way, sometimes we came tantalizingly close to the proverbial walls of the city, but the city gates were closed in our face,” he stated, to thunderous applauds and cheers from thousands of grateful party faithful who had gathered at the Accra Sports Stadium in thanksgiving accord.
The inter-denomination thanksgiving service was under the theme: "We will rejoice in your salvation; And in the name of our God we set up our banner".
Nana Addo explained his faith and his drive: “...But we never lost hope, we learnt from each mistake and we soldiered on in the belief that in God’s own time, we will get there better prepared.
“We took inspiration from Gods word in the book of Psalms 27-14 which says, “Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage’, so we took courage and worked in the full knowledge that the battle was the Lord’s”.
Urging Ghanaians to also take inspiration from hi tortuous journey, quoted from Habakkuk 2:3: “For the vision is yet for the appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry,” and stated that in God’s own time, He would make the affairs of Ghana bright and beautiful.
“I have no doubt that with God on our side, we shall succeed…because God has promised that in His own time he would make all things beautiful, this is His appointed time and that is why the battle is still the Lords,” he said to yet another applause and cheers from the charged atmosphere of jubilant party members, shining in white apparels, complemented with the other NPP colours of blue and red.
Nana Addo called for a lot of hard work, unceasing prayers and the blessings of the Lord towards the task of nation- building, saying again that that with the battle in the hands of the Lord, he was not afraid, but confident that Ghana would succeed under his leadership.
He paid solemn tributes to the fallen members of the party, saying it anguished him that they did not live to witness, what he called, “This famous and resounding victory”.
He mentioned former Vice President Aliu Mahama, former Chairman of the Party Jake Obetsebi- Lamptey, Former Upper East Regional Party Chairman Adams Mahama, and the murdered Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, Mr Peter Wiafe Pepera who was a legislator for Abetifi and Kwabena Boadu, an aide to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President-elect.
President-elect Nana Addo expressed gratitude to the millions who voted for him, and even those who voted for the other parties, and said it was a shared victory for Ghana.
The litany of appreciation also covered President John Dramani Mahama for his graciously conceding defeat, the Vice President-elect, Dr Bawumia and his wife Samira, the First-Lady in waiting wife Rebecca, his children, the media and the players in the creative industry, as well as those who gave their widow’s mite towards the campaign, for being part of “this positive history”.
“How can we ignore the convergence of events on the night of December 9, when President Mahama called me to concede defeat, while at the same time Yahya Jammeh of Gambia was disputing the elections, which he already lost,” he stated.
He, therefore, thanked God for preserving the peace of the nation through the elections, despite the fears and apprehension of many citizens, commending Ghanaians for conducting “ourselves largely peacefully.”
“I do recognise that there have been some incidences of misconduct and altercations that should not have happened…such behaviours are unbecoming of us,” he commented.
“I call on all Ghanaians, everyone, to act with kindness, generosity, and magnanimity towards one another and to forgive anyone who may have wronged or hurt you…Remember the battle is the Lord’s.
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