The Npp Way For The Ghanaian Economy

PRESS RELEASE 01ST JUNE 2011

The Npp Way For The Ghanaian Economy

BY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO

The NPP seeks to create a political economy consistent with basic individual liberties; provide substantially equal opportunities to all citizens; tackle inequalities but not by a centralised state socialism but by a private sector led economy that is allowed to create wealth and the tax revenues that the state can accrue from such free entrepreneurships shall be then invested in the social sectors to create greater opportunities for the lesser well offs.

What we need is a political economy that serves our people, by building a strong bridge from the times when big government did everything to a future when people are entrusted with self-governance. We need to follow the wisdom of our forefathers: Danquah believed that the Ghanaian was capable of managing what the socialists called at the time, ‘the commanding heights’ of the economy. We must be bold and intelligent in making this happen. To do so, we should not be shy of introducing policies that look, first and foremost, after our own people at every level of our economy.

We must pursue a proactive but pragmatic agenda by picking, stimulating and increasing the number of Ghanaian winners in all sectors and build champions of industry who can compete anywhere in the world. We do so not by turning our backs on the process of globalisation, but by making use of its rules and regulations in such a way as to enhance our capability and capacity. We should be bold and devise and push an agenda that gets people out of the cycle of subsistence wages and informal, ad hoc economic activities, into the formal sector. We must rebuild the confidence of the Ghanaian entrepreneur. We must not shy away from picking local winners and supporting them deliberately to become regional and continental winners.

We need to mould our economic system to our particular instincts for individual freedom and social justice. Thus, since my election on August 7, 2010, I have put together a Policy Unit, headed by Albert Osei (a retired senior World bank official) and a Manifesto Committee headed by Prof Yaw Twumasi (distinguished political scientist), who are consulting with various stakeholders to ensure that, with God’s blessing, we win power in 2012, ready for office.

We want to come to office not with PROMISES but with PROGRAMMES. Programmes that address the little things that matter to Ghanaians in their communities, like safe neighbourhoods, clean gutters, hygienic food, streets with names, flowing tap water, reducing road traffic, and making sure that rules and regulations are obeyed. Programmes that address the fundamental issues of our time, the urgent need to tackle widespread youth unemployment, good skills, good jobs and good pay, industrialised economy, modernised agriculture, a modern, integrated public transport system that links every corner of our nation and our country to our neighbours. Programmes that will enhance the quality of life, like universal access to quality education and quality healthcare. What the people need are programmes that will establish a public sector that serves them with efficiency, respect and at value for money.

The mission of the NPP is straightforward and simple: we mean to create a future Ghana that will provide a model of progress for the rest of Africa and the world. Our job as politicians is to ensure that the state provides the people with a quality environment of law and order, physical infrastructure, social services, sensitivity and quick responsiveness to needs, and a regulatory environment that allows free and fair competition. These are policies that make lives better. These are policies that underpin the NPP’s vision of development.

As leader of the NPP, I remain guided by the values of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, its history and its promise and the examples of our great leaders who have gone before me, from Joseph Boakye Danquah, Simon Dombo, Kofi Abrefa Busia, Victor Owusu, William Ofori-Atta, and Albert Adu Boahen to John Agyekum Kufuor. Amongst these values are:

• an unwavering commitment to and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights

• an abiding faith in multi-party democracy

• a deep attachment to the Rule of Law

• the maintenance of Law and Order

• the proactive development of a market economy and individual enterprise and creativity

• the economic empowerment of the Ghanaian

• the recognition of each of us being the other’s keeper

• the provision of a strong social safety net for the elderly, vulnerable and needy in society

• a strong advocacy of individual responsibility and self discipline

• a preparedness to sacrifice for community, country and continent

• an unyielding belief in the can-do spirit of the Ghanaian

• and, finally, a leadership constantly guided by faith in God.

We need to intensify our efforts in pursuing a development agenda that is broad-based, inclusive and sustainable to extend social justice to everyone, whether an urban or rural dweller. Thankfully, the NPP, in the 8 years of President J A Kufuor, showed through our policies in education, health, youth employment, small loan schemes, to name a few, that we fully subscribe to the notion that government has a responsibility to provide all its citizens with skills and opportunities to create their own wealth. Let me repeat, the ultimate test for our democracy is winning the enduring war against Africa’s old enemy -- mass poverty. I believe we can only win this war by building a New Society of Opportunities.

This New Society of Opportunities is what can realise the dream of the founding fathers that all Ghanaians shall have a right and duty to engage in, contribute to and profit from the country’s economic growth and wealth. Hence, we see it as the fundamental duty of government to create an environment that allows the individual to use that talent positively for the benefit of him- or herself, his or her family and society, at large. A critical element of that environment is the systematic encouragement by government of the culture and spirit of enterprise in all its citizens.

A new society of opportunities, as we envisage, means establishing a system of governance that provides the very best of public services for every citizen, including an effective, humane public healthcare system, access to a secure and reliable justice system and unfettered access by all and sundry to a quality education in Ghana that rivals any in the world. It means also a governance system that helps unleash the energies of its citizens so that enterprise is appreciated and duly rewarded, not vilified and made the object of envy.

After more than thirty years in frontline politics, the more I travel around the country canvassing for votes, the more I see the urgency in waging and winning the war against poverty. So far, we have not been able to win the war against poverty because we have been using the same ineffective weapons of old. The only way forward is to be deliberate and determined in the pre-independence dream of transforming Ghana from a Guggisberg economy to a modern economy of added value. We must free ourselves from the economic arrangements designed by our former colonial masters to serve their particular purpose at the time.

I am determined to make my leadership of Ghana the period that our economy is transformed from an exporter of raw materials and retailer of cheap imported goods to a modern, self-sufficient, surplus-producing industrialised one. I see the recent petroleum find as offering as the perfect opportunity to create here in Ghana a petrochemical industry, including monetising our gas to create a multibillion dollar gas feedstock industry. We have the opportunity to make Ghana a regional centre for light manufacturing industry, by weaving together our numerous natural resources, like food produce, bauxite, iron ore, oil and gas, with our talents and energy to turn our nation into an economic powerhouse in Africa.

It means intensifying radically our efforts in pursuing the transformation and modernisation of our national economy, so that it could create jobs and prosperity for the broad mass of our people on the basis of social justice, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the principles of democratic accountability, and individual liberty and enterprise. This is the new paradigm of human development to which our generation is summoned.

However, the task ahead is more than just creating jobs. It is also about building a competitive economy with a competitive work force. As I see it, the task is also to get Ghana thinking… thinking out of the box… thinking big…and thinking deeply about the little things we do or don’t do that hold us back. We need to put the nation back on the path of a brighter future. We need to bring back competence, strong, decisive and compassionate leadership. We need to restore hope and the confidence of the Ghanaian. We can only do so by working together, intelligently and courageously.

We must be proud of what we have achieved, as a party, since the traumatic loss in the 2008 elections. The successful process of reflection and rebuilding from 2009 to date has been unprecedented in the annals of Africa’s democracy. The constitutional arrangements of 2009 which have led to significant expansion of our electoral colleges to involve the grassroots in the selection of the party’s leadership are a major testimony of our party’s true democratic credentials. Ours is a party that is ready and prepared to respond to concerns, challenges and opportunities.

Last August, it took over 107,000 people, mostly from the grassroots, to choose our 2012 presidential candidate. Last month, it took more than four times the previous number to choose our parliamentary candidates. We have, through this process, built a solid foundation for unity for the 2012 general elections. We have reflected and we have rebuilt. The next task is to recapture. Let us make sure all hands are on deck and Ghanaians, by the grace of God, shall reward our posture of readiness to lead and serve them with distinction. This requires dedication, determination and discipline.

Those of us in this room hold the key to our nation’s future, if we are smart and win the 2012 elections. Let us work hard in unity, to ensure that that future is one of peace, progress and prosperity. Then history will be kind to us.

Thank you.

THE ABOVE ARE EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH, ‘THE NPP STORY AND OUR VISION FOR 2012’, DELIVERED BY NANA AKUFO-ADDO, 2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, AT SEMINAR FOR PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES, SPOKESPERSONS AND NATIONAL EXECUTIVES, 23RD MAY, 2011, ALISA HOTEL, NORTH RIDGE, ACCRA