I want to lead a united Ghana - Akufo-Addo

The 2016 flag bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has declared his commitment to a peaceful election, saying he wants to be president of a united country after the 7 December polls.

According to him, the NPP wants to win a free and fair election and the party will, therefore, not do anything to endanger the peace of the country.

The NPP flag bearer said this at a meeting under the auspices of the National Peace Council in Accra on Thursday, 1 December, where all seven presidential candidates contesting in this year’s election signed a peace pact ahead of the polls.

“I continue to believe in democracy as the best system of government under which this nation under God should be developed. I have spent nearly four decades of my life standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Ghana in advancing the course of democracy. I want to be president of a united country that is at peace with itself,” he noted.

“Over the course of the last 24 months, the NPP has fashioned out a comprehensive programme which we believe will lead to a rapid development of our country Ghana, and significant improvement in the standards of living of her people.”

Nana Akufo-Addo said: “We want to win a fair and free election and gain the true mandate of the people of Ghana to implement our programmes. We will need the support and energies of all our people to govern if God willing we are given the mandate on 7 December.”

According to Mr Akufo-Addo, the strength of any democracy is determined by the credibility of its electoral system. “It is in our collective interest that we ensure that rules and regulations in the conduct of elections are fair and transparent and that we all develop respect for them,” added the three-time presidential aspirant. He noted that every stakeholder including political parties, the Electoral Commission, government, the security agencies and the citizenry must play their part in delivering a free and fair election.

“There should be no lingering questions about the legitimacy of an election and the winning candidate, at the end of the process, should receive the unalloyed support of all. That is how we can strengthen our democracy and the peace and stability of our nation.”

In his opinion, there is a lot of talk about peace ahead of the polls because security agencies haven’t acted in a way to depict neutrality in the lead-up to the polls. He, therefore, urged them to act without fear or favour.

“I can speak for the NPP and speak without any equivocation that we will not do anything to endanger the peace of the nation in anyway during these elections. It is in our interest that the elections come off peacefully and the outcome is credible,” he stressed.