NPP UK delighted by Kufuor’s State Visit to UK in 2007

The New Patriotic Party UK and Ireland Branch would like to congratulate the government of Ghana and especially the President John Agyekum Kufuor on his invitation to UK for a state visit next year, one of the just two state visits given every year by Buckingham Palace. This visit has not come as a matter of chance, but it is a sign of a special place the President and Ghana occupy in the United Kingdom and the international community at large.

We, as Ghanaians in UK, have every cause to be delighted at the honour accorded our country and our government by such a high profile visit. The announcement which was contained in the Queen's State of the Nation address to the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, will be the first accorded a Ghanaian leader and it goes to show the position that the President, in his six years in office, has placed Ghana in.

This honour, we believe, has been accorded Ghana because of the principle of good governance that the President has instituted in Ghana. Ghana now enjoys a position of respect and prominence within the comity of nations because of the NPP government and its sound economic and social infrastructural programmes and policies. These policies received a stamp of approval at Gleneagles as the standard for the debt forgiveness by the International Community. It also received the attention of the US government in awarding us the £547 Millennium Challenge Account.

In as much as we rejoice in the glory of true democracy and good governance by the NPP government, we are also mindful of the negative campaign and utter lies that former President Rawlings and his cohort are peddling on the international market trying to counter the gains of our dear nation Ghana. It is ironic that the very country, UK, where Rawlings recently came to deliver his psychopathic address to a highly partisan students’ union, will have her Head of State, the Queen, invite the President who was on the receiving end of those unsavoury words for a state visit. This shows the contempt with which the visit and address by former President Rawlings was treated here in UK. In his twenty two years as a dictator and President Rawlings was snubbed by the international community because of his unstable state of mind and this is getting worse by the day.

President Kufuor has done very well to redeem the image of the presidency of Ghana and has brought the smile back on the faces of all Ghanaians, irrespective of political leanings. His recent successful visit to China, Japan and South Korea, where he was able to negotiate funding for the Bui Dam project is a typical example. The fairness with which the President has ruled the nation is exemplary. For example 19 out of the 23 districts earmarked to benefit from the MCA are in NDC controlled constituencies. This is the first time in Ghana’s short history that for six continuous years there has been no political prisoners, the press have had unbroken freedom and the cedi has enjoyed relative stability. It looks good on us as Ghanaians, thanks to the NPP tolerant government.

Ghana’s stable economy has made the country credit worthy. The cedi is now a contender currency in the international currency market. The fluctuating world crude oil price has not shaken the solid foundations of the economy. The myriad of road infrastructural network being woven on the landscape of our nation is a sign of Ghana on course to meet its Millennium Development Goals in 2015. Ghanaian children enjoy free health, safety in school, are being fed and can enjoy outcomes of economic and educational wellbeing by the time they are sixteen years thanks to FCUBE.

Again the anniversary celebration in 2007 is already beginning to pay dividend in showcasing Ghana in just the way it is intended, much against the wishes of the nation wreckers who have been campaigning against Ghana@50. As a nation we have a lot to be thankful for over the fifty years of independence and we could use the anniversary next year to attract more investment and tourism.

We of the NPP UK will continue to encourage the government to accentuate the positives gained in the six years of good government under the NPP, especially in the areas of the economy, education, health reforms, poverty alleviation, micro financing, youth employment, road infrastructure, currency stability, good governance, freedom of the press and many more other areas. We look forward to welcoming the President to UK next year. Long Live Ghana, Long Live Good Governance

Hayford Atta-Krufi Chairman, for and on behalf of NPP UK and Ireland