By: Herbert Krapa
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2008 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, has promised to deliver a landslide victory for the NPP in the 2012 general elections if given the mandate by the party’s delegates on August 7 to become flagbearer of the NPP for the 2012 elections.
He made this known when he visited the Awutu Senya Constituency as part of his campaign tour of the Central Region. Day 2 of his campaign tour also took him to Efutu, Gomoa West and Mfantseman East constituencies.
Notable members of the party who accompanied Nana Addo included Yaw Osafo-Maafo; Dominic Nitiwul, MP for Bimbilla; Kwabena Otchere-Darko Mensah, MP for Takoradi; Isaac Asiamah, MP for Atwima Mponua; Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin North; Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin-North; Lord Commey, former NPP National Organiser; Titus Glover; Haruna Esseku, Former NPP Chairman; Kwamena Bartels, Opey Abbey former MP for Awutu-Senya; Samuel Owusu Agyei, Former MP for Efutu; and Isaac Edumadze
Visibly excited, Akufo-Addo expressed his gratitude to the people of the constituency and to those in the Central Region who voted for him in the 2008 general elections. He said the current state of Ghana, be it the political, social or economic realm, was highly unacceptable as everything was steadily grinding to a halt.
He cited as examples the National Health Insurance Scheme and School Feeding Programme which, he said, has been going downhill and are at the brink of collapse since the NDC took over.
“According to a news report monitored on the 24th March 2010 edition of Asempa Today, the youth in the Central Regional town of Kormantse, in the Mfantseman West constituency, have taken to grave-digging to earn a livelihood since their regular source of income which is fishing, has been completely wiped out as a result of drying up of premix fuel throughout the country and prohibitive prices of fishing gear,” he said.
To buttress his point on the worsening economic situation in the country presided over by President Mills, Nana Akufo-Addo made a quick reference to the road tolls paid by commercial drivers that has seen a 1,150% increase since the NDC took over.
“In 2008, a trotro driver paid 8 pesewas per trip and assuming he made 14 trips a day, he only had to pay GHc1.12 the whole day which translates into GHc355.04 a year that is if he worked 6 times in a week. In the era of the Asomdwehene, the toll has been increased to GHc1 per trip and using the same analogy, a trotro driver now has to pay GHc14 a day which culminates into GHc4,438 a year. This is the better Ghana they promised us and it’s fairly obvious to me that Ghana is moving backwards slowly but surely,” he said.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the responsibility of moving Ghana forward fell on every member of the party to ensure that the NPP was returned to power in 2012. The first step towards that he said was the mobilisation of grassroot and polling station executives across the party and their involvement in selecting flagbearers of the party. This is the reason why he advocated, supported and campaigned for an expansion of the Electoral College of the party.
Nana Akufo-Addo pleaded for unity in the party as the NPP sought to wrestle power from the NDC. He said competition always brought out best in people and it was imperative that competition must be devoid of personal attacks but rather be a healthy one. He recounted how in 1998 he contested President Kufuor in the NPP primaries, and although he lost the he openly declared his support for and campaigned for and with him across Ghana.
“We join political parties as part of a collective and so the supreme interest of the party stands solemn than the aspirations of any individual,” he said.
Nana Addo reiterated his commitment now more than ever of making his 2008 campaign promise of free Senior High School Education a reality if given the mandate by NPP delegates and subsequently by the people of Ghana.
“We are on the brink of a landslide victory in 2012. We were nearly there in 2008 and if you give me the mandate of leading the party, I will bring the power in 2012,” he concluded.
Polling station executives, Anthony Teiko, polling station organiser of the Awutu constituency openly endorsed Nana as the man for 2012. He said since Akufo-Addo has been well marketed across the length and breadth of the country, it was therefore necessary that he be maintained for the 2012 elections.
Earlier speakers at the gathering included Haruna Esseku, Mustapha Hamid and Kennedy Agyapong.
Haruna Esseku, a former chairman of the NPP said as a founding member of NPPand a signatory of the party at the Electoral Commission, he has in his wisdom thrown his weight behind Nana Akufo-Addo, just as other leading members of the party have also done. They have all done so because they see Nana Akufo-Addo as the man to deliver power for the NPP in 2012.
Mustapha Hamid addressing the gathering said the NPP has a great asset in Nana Akufo-Addo, a true party man and a candidate who will win the 2012 general elections. He said anyone who aspires to lead the NPP must answer two questions. What have u done for the party and what will u do when u win the power.
Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin-North, bemoaned the acrimony that existed in some constituencies in connection with the election of NPP parliamentary candidates. This, he said, was the single most important reason why the NPP lost its parliamentary majority and ultimately the presidency. It was necessary those mistakes were not repeated and once that hurdle is crossed, the NPP would be returned to power in 2012.
He commended Nana Akufo-Addo for advocating and campaigning for an expansion of the NPP’s Electoral College and took a swipe at those who are now hypocritically canvassing for votes from the same delegates they sought to disenfranchise.
Day three of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign, scheduled to continue on Sunday, will take him to Cape Coast, Abura Asebu Kwamankese, Assin South and Assin North constituencies
