Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer for election 2012, has said his free Senior High School policy is to pave way for the ordinary Ghanaian to gain access to quality education.
He said the NPP would not allow destructive criticisms by political detractors to derail the attention of the NPP and make the policy a mirage.
Addressing thousands of NPP supporters at a rally to kick start his eight-day campaign tour in the Brong-Ahafo region at Drobo in Jaman South District, Nana Akuffo-Addo said the country had all the needed resources to implement the policy next year.
The NPP presidential candidate and his entourage including Mr. John Allan Kyeremateng, a leading member of the party, Alhaji Mocta Bamba, NPP’s National Organiser and Lord Commey, a member of Nana Akuffo-Addo’s communication team held similar rallies at Atuna, Japekrom, Merehano, Dwenem and Zezera.
Nana Akuffo-Addo expressed disappointed that some leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who had benefited from the free SHS education some years ago continued to sabotage the realistic policy.
He said though the NDC claimed the country had no sound financial base to implement the policy, it had been able to pay judgment debts to the tune of GH?830 million in the past two and half years.
The NPP presidential candidate challenged Ghanaians to give the mandate in the coming elections to the NPP and see the policy’s implementation.
He said the only way to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in society was to ensure that accessible but quality education was made available to all.
Nana Akuffo-Addo told the cheering supporters they could really benefit from the free SHS education and also see remarkable improvements in their living conditions only when they ensured that majority of Ghanaians understood that the NPP could implement the policy next year and vote for the party.
Nana Akuffo-Addo said the party was aware parents and guardians could not afford to pay their children and wards school fees because of the current economic hardship as a result of NDC’s mismanagement of the economy.
He said the National Health Insurance Scheme, mass cocoa spraying exercise and the free maternal delivery were all on the verge of collapse and advised Ghanaians to vote for the NPP to resuscitate those policies for the benefit of the ordinary Ghanaian.
Mr. Yaw Afful Mahama, Member of Parliament for the Constituency, appealed to the gathered crowd to exercise restraint as the NPP was aware of their numerous problems.
He said the deplorable nature of roads and the high rate of youth unemployment in the area would soon be over only when they voted for the NPP.
Alhaji Bamba said the NDC had a record of electoral fraud and rigging and advised supporters of the NPP to eschew complacency and be vigilant on the voting day.
He urged the NPP supporters not to fear attempts by the NDC to intimidate them as the party’s hierarchy was determined to ensure that a clean election was conducted.
Mr. Kwasi Asomah-Cheremeh, NPP’s Brong-Ahafo Regional Chairman, expressed optimism that the people in the area would participate in the election and vote massively for the NPP.
He said any attempt by the NDC to rig the election would not be successful and advised the party supporters to intensify their campaigns.
At the various communities they visited, Nana Akuffo-Addo and his entourage were given a rousing welcome by enthusiastic party supporters clad in party colours and other paraphernalia.
The visit will continue to Jaman North, Tain, Wenchi, Techiman North as well as Nkoranza North and Nkoranza South constituencies.
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