Today in History: I won't take Ford gifts to give contracts - Akufo-Addo

Prior to election 2016, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who is now the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, assured Ghanaians of utmost transparency in awarding contracts once he’s voted as president.

His comments came as a subtle reference to allegations that the then president John Dramani Mahama had received a Ford gift from a Burkinabe contractor, who was subsequently given a government contract.

Having visited Hamile, in the Lambussie constituency, prior to his tour of Nandom, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the first road one drives on, upon entering Ghana from Burkina Faso, is the road from Hamile to Nandom, which leads further down south. These roads, he stated, are in deplorable conditions, having driven on them on his way to Hamile.

“We are going to find the contractor by a process of competitive bidding. We are not going to go into a room and sit down with one person and say yes (you have the contract). I have no interest in Cadillacs or Fords or whatever. We want to do a job for Ghana, a good job for that matter,” he said.

Read the full story originally published on September 4, 2016, on Ghanaweb

Nana Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians bidding for contracts under his government will be transparent and will not be induced by material stuff to favour others.

In a subtle reference to President John Mahama receiving a Ford gift from a Burkinabe contractor, who was subsequently given a government contract, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer said gifts will not determine who gets contracts if he comes to power.

Having visited Hamile, in the Lambussie constituency, prior to his tour of Nandom, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the first road one drives on, upon entering Ghana from Burkina Faso, is the road from Hamile to Nandom, which leads further down south. These roads, he stated, are in deplorable conditions, having driven on them on his way to Hamile.

“This is not the road Ghana should be introduced to people from Burkina Faso. This dirt road? We are going to do something about it, take it from me. People should have a better impression of our country than this road,” he added.

The NPP flagbearer assured residents that his government, God-willing from January 2017, will ensure that the link road from Hamile to Nandom and further down into the Upper West Region is constructed.

The award of the contract for the road, he added, will be done by competitive tendering, and not sole sourcing, which has been the norm and method for the award of contracts under the Mahama administration.

“We are going to find the contractor by a process of competitive bidding. We are not going to go into a room and sit down with one person and say yes (you have the contract). I have no interest in Cadillacs or Fords or whatever. We want to do a job for Ghana, a good job for that matter,” he said.

Additionally, he assured residents of Nandom and the Upper West Region, who have fallen prey to microfinance scams, that “if by the time 7th January comes, and, by the Grace of God, I have taken the Oath of Office, and all these matters of the Microfinance institutions have not been sorted out, I am coming to make sure that things are sorted out.”

Nana Akufo-Addo urged residents of Nandom to vote for the NPP’s candidate for the constituency, Hon. Ambrose Dery, stressing that “the change that is blowing across the entire country has to embrace one of the best men you have in the politics of the Upper West.”

Hon. Ambrose Dery, the NPP flagbearer added, “was a brilliant Minister from the Upper West Region. He was a brilliant Regional Minister, and I have no doubt the he is going to be a brilliant Minister in Akufo-Addo’s cabinet.”

In concluding, the NPP flagbearer appealed to residents of the Upper West Region to restore their links with the NPP, explaining that the Region is where some of the important leaders of the NPP’s political tradition hailed from.

“Their names are written in gold in the history of Ghana – S.D. Dombo, B.K. Adama, Jato Kaleo, Mumuni DImbie, Abaayifa Karbo. These are the names of the men who got up to fight for freedom for our country, at great personal cost, to build Ghana’s democracy. They are turning in their graves knowing that, today, we don’t have a political presence in the Upper West. I am pleading with you. This election, let us restore the NPP to its heritage and connect it to the people who built that heritage.”