Cyberspace may not be the best platform but it's all we got now for Ghanaians overseas to know each other as some of us prepare to return home and or participate in the political process of change in our nation.
We can talk and we can discuss our Ghanaians politics, and we may all support or criticize the NDC or the NPP, the CPP, PNC or others, but at the end of the day we still need a person to be our President and help guide our nation. We need to find alternatives to the kind of leadership we have had since the post Nkrumah days.
It takes a lot of sacrifice of one of us to come close to the possibilities that we all dream of. I think that day is here.
Folks, there is nothing like a perfect man when it comes to leadership, and there is no Jesus Christ coming from heaven to lead a nation. It has to be one of us! Some are more qualified than others and for all we know the person may be one of us. Politics is one area where familiarity should not breed contempt. It should be an asset to know people well enough and hence endorse them. There should be no mystery. I have the distinct pleasure of knowing Mr. Jacob Osei Yeboah in the last year or two, and many times when I was in Ghana in 2010. I have to say that there is no candidate on the horizon who is ready and whom I'd rather see lead in the management of our nation for us than Mr. Jacob Osei Yeboah. Whiles it takes more than a few meetings to know somebody fully, I had the distinct opportunity to see and examine Mr. Yeboah in many aspects, including at meetings, in debates, in arguments and watched how he thinks and his intellectual and other skills. It is my great pleasure to say emphatically that Jacob is a man who will come close to what we want: a person who has a vision and understands the problems, a person who has originality in looking at the problems of Ghana form a global perspective even though he was not educated overseas, a person who has the temperament, the background education and experience to manage Ghana. Jacob Osei Yeboah comes as close as we can find.
Jacob has an electrical engineering degree from KNUST and did his MBA whiles working as Engineer and later promoted to Management at Obuasi Gold Mines. Jacob later set up his own company and is the West African Director of VitalSources Limited, a Mining Equipment supplier company. For the first time in our nation's history, Ghana has the chance to select a person who is not just a person who can communicate and convince people, but a person who sincerely understands the intricacies of Business. Mr. Yeboah has made executive decisions and employed people on his own. This is the kind of experience any nation will need to compete in the modern world. Jacob has travelled to many nations in Europe and North America on business.
Please let us put partisan politics aside and seek leaders for Ghana irrespective of the party they stand on.
Please read the press statement today April 28, 2011 and let us discuss and question Jacob on any issue we want, and support him in any way we can.
Cheers,
Dr. Kwaku A. Danso
President -Ghana Leadership Union (GNO) and Moderator GLU Forum.
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SPEECH BY JACOB OSEI YEBOAH (JOY), AN ASPIRING INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2012 GENERAL ELECTIONS AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, ACCRA ON THURSDAY, 28TH APRIL, 2011
Pics 1JOY2012 PRESS
Mr. Chairman, Kwasi Amoafo Yeboah, 2008 Independent Presidential Candidate and Group Managing Director of ITEL Company, Nii Ayi-Bonte, Gbese and Adonten of Ga States, Nii Amaakine, the Asenee and Gyasetse, Barima Offe Kwasi Okogyeasuo II, Paramount Chief of Kokofu Traditional Council, Togbe Adsridom V, Paramount Chief of Kpedze Traditional council, representatives of the various Religious Leaders, Christian, Muslims and traditional; the business community, Ghana Mines Workers Union of TUC and representatives of Market Women and members of the Press Corp.
First, let me thank all of you for your presence at this press conference. This press conference will go down in history as one of the most important turning points in the process to sound a clarion call to all Ghanaians, particularly the youth. This call is especially for the youth to critically re-examine our current democratic system and its structures and to begin to chart a new pathway for the establishment of a new foundation. That is a foundation that can save the emerging Ghana and Africa as a key player toward the continental and global reconstruction of a new world political, economic, social, technological and environmental order for harmonious co-existence of all humankind.
I am motivated by what John Ruskin, an art critic, social thinker, poet and artist once said and I quote "Therefore, when we build, let us think that we build forever, let it not be for the present delight, nor for present use alone; let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for, and let us think as we lay stone on stone, that a time is to come, when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them. And that man will say as they look upon our labour and wrought substance of them: See, this, our fathers did for us."
Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me to paraphrase Dr. Nkrumah's declaration, 'The democratization of Ghana's governance will be meaningless unless we look for a democratic structure suitable and sustainable in Ghana and the respective African countries, based on our positive traditions and cultures, devoid of ethnocentrism and which can serve as a unifying economic developmental agenda.'
As I indicated somewhere else, I am here to assure you that, "A vision of good intent for mankind, conceived in the Lord and nurtured steadily by the visionary up to the time of its birthing, causes nature and chance to support that cause".
Ladies and gentlemen, I call on Ghanaians, especially the older generation, to take a minute to reflect on what our forebears anticipated when they fought for our freedom and emancipation; reflect on their struggles, the strife, the pain, the loss and incarceration of loved ones, just to ensure a better life for you and I and also for the generations yet unborn. Reflect on the speeches made by coup makers in 19-66, 72, 79,81 and see how closer we are to or far apart we are from freedom, justice and prosperity. Have illusion, poverty and misery become the portion of Ghanaians? Similarly, think about the orations of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and of-course the 4th republics (acclaimed as new democratic dispensations; western style democracy) and again, judge for ourselves, if indeed, we have enjoyed the milk and honey diets they promised! Have we, fellow Ghanaians? No we haven't.
Fellow Ghanaians, haven't we become a client state? Haven't we become ever-more dependent than when we first gained independence? Haven't we as a people become shadows of ourselves? Ladies and gentlemen haven't we, in our own land of birth, been reduced to hewers of wood and drawers of water? Is this what democracy is supposed to bring?
Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, let me challenge the thought patterns of career politicians in Ghana in particular and Africa as a whole that "Partisan politics practiced at the national level to elect presidents on the basis of political affiliation and loyalties as well as ethnic divides will continually destabilize the region through subversions and conflicts to deconstruct the Africa continent". The time has come for Africans to begin to think outside the box to search for a new democratic construct relevant to the peculiar multi-ethnic societies of our beloved Country and the Africa continent as a whole.
Ghana's election in 2012 marks twelve years into the new millennium order. The year also represents the establishment of a new order, a new political construct that Ghanaians shall be called to endorse after 54 years of independence. Our nation and continent, following their glorious births have staggered on with untested democratic governing systems and structures that continue to see the continent and its resources both human and material plundered and dissipated progressively.
The emerging new political Times and Season require Situational and Effective Leadership in Ghana
Since independence, what has been Ghana's strategic interest in the scheme of world affairs? What has been our country's interest in the scheme of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific affairs? What about the affairs of the West Africa sub-region? What about our neighbouring countries of Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso? Do we have any defined, concretely mapped out strategic interest that can be turned into a competitive advantage for ourselves as a nation and for Ghanaian businesses, entrepreneurs, academic and research institutions? And, above all, what should be the vision of the individual? It is about time, fellow Ghanaians, that we began to embrace a new leadership, a leadership that feels, sees and understands the heartbeat of Ghanaians. A leadership that is not imposing or despotic. A leadership that is not partisan or divisive. A leadership that is not coercive or brutal but one that seeks and solicits, one that mobilizes, harnesses, concretizes and channels ideas, and energizes the human and material resources to realize the dreams and aspirations of Ghana and the Ghanaian.
This is the leadership, ladies and gentlemen, that Jacob Osei Yeboah (JOY) seeks to bring to Ghana and Ghanaians, towards the search for a new dispensation in the emerging Ghana and Africa. Without mincing words, what JOY2012 commends for our contemplation and endorsement is that, the core responsibility of the Political Parties must be the election of Members of Parliament for the legislative arm of government only. The executive arm of government must be made up of individuals who are independent, not connected with political parties and whose sole interest is the good governance of all citizens. It makes sense when career politicians want the state to fund political parties for such a democratic construct. But for the state to use taxpayers' money to fund the existing political parties is like adding salt to the injured hearts of the people of Ghana. Are we slaves to political parties? No!
Let it be understood, ladies and gentlemen, that the emerging Ghana and Africa as a whole, do not need politicians to do politics with our lives and confuse us. The new Ghana rather needs thinkers, initiators, builders, developers and a leadership with insight and perspective. It needs men and women with burdened hearts for its people. We need leaders with righteous zeal, determination and commitment to leave an indelible impression on Ghana's political history. A leadership that, even if there was nothing, is able to create something out of nothing, through cogent thought processes and the application of the principle of 'dominion', 'fruitfulness' and 'multiplication'. Yes, this is the leadership JOY seeks to introduce. With this, I, JACOB OSEI YEBOAH, formally and unequivocally, here and now, declare my intention and unwavering commitment to run for the position of the President of the Republic of Ghana, come 2012 as an Independent candidate.
My leadership would see a paradigm shift from the governance style of the tyranny of the majority in parliament. There will be a definite shift from the inordinate pursuit of parochial interest in the service of a party or a mafia within a political party and not that of the state and its people. My presidency will position Ghana for leadership and influence within the sub-region and the region as a whole. I will continually focus on what it means to empower the Ghanaian business entrepreneur to succeed, what it means to have an inclusive government and, what it means, again, to marshal the collective wisdom and energies for national development from our chiefs, our religious leaders and accomplished business people.
The complex and sophisticated demand by the electorates and the knowledge-based society; the sudden acknowledgement of the true centre of power by the electorates or the masses; the social cyber networking flow of benchmark information and event;, as well as the unprecedented energy in the youth to effect change irrespective of the prize they may pay by their efforts, are a wakeup call for contemporary political leadership across the world. Ghana is no exception in this regard and, therefore, the laissez-faire leadership-style and the politics as usual syndrome can have serious and consequential destruction to our lives, properties and businesses going beyond the 2012 election.
Mr. Chairman, current happenings in Ghana, characterized by sharp political polarization and abusive partisan politics are a sure recipe for disaster. The occurrences in Kenya and now in Ivory Coast are clear reminders of what could ultimately happen in Ghana through these partisan politics. What we witness also of revolutions in some Africa and Arab nations with consequential brutal destruction of lives and properties is the direct result of selfish, greedy and tyrannical politicians. The "winner-takes-all-system", the tyranny of the majority in parliamentary decision processes", the "one-man, one-vote, non-participation", system have relegated, displaced and misplaced the real energy inherent in the Ghanaian and African traditional governing values.
The time has come, therefore, for society as whole on one hand, and our religious, business and traditional leaders, on the other hand, to speak out on the need to change from eulogizing mediocrity, non-performance, hypocrisy and thievery to holding our leaders accountable, but also more importantly, by valuing our lives, properties and businesses going beyond the 2012 election. The 2012 election is, therefore, NOT about an individual or a political party ascending to power for the sake of power to delude Ghanaians, but it's about the authenticity of Ghana as, indeed, a truly independent state capable of managing its human, capital and material resources that would bring to reality the admonishing of John Ruskin, when the future generation shall indeed look upon what has been built and say, Yes, "see what our fathers and mothers did for us".
WHY JOY 2012?
Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, JOY2012 is a response to a call, a call to pursue and fulfill an unaccomplished National Agenda, an agenda that has been skillfully pushed aside and derailed of its energy and purpose by unseen hands and forces.
The unaccomplished national agenda can be summarized by the collective views of Ghana's founders; Dr. Nkrumah mentioned during the 10th anniversary of the CPP in 1960, "We have won the political battle, and have now plunged ourselves into the fight for economic and social reconstruction of our country". Dr. J.B. Danquah also stated "In my view the African's great mission in the future lies not in racial politics perpetually reminding the world of the Africa's colour - black, brown or olive - but in national or cultural politics, in the duty of each nation and culture making a supreme contribution to the achievement of happiness and survival of mankind."
JOY2012 will rigorously pursue the unaccomplished national agenda for Ghana which is "the fight for economic and social reconstruction of Ghana in national and cultural politics, in the duty of Ghana's culture, making a supreme contribution to the achievement of happiness and survival of Ghanaians."
JOY2012 is a response to a "Working Ghana Agenda (WGA)" call to provide a credible alternative to our political parties and a choice for Ghanaians to choose to live beyond 2012 election. Without mincing words, what JOY2012 means is that, the Political Parties must be made to operate to elect Members of Parliament for the legislative arm of government only. The executive arm of government must comprise individuals who are independent of any political party for good governance for every citizen.
JOY2012 is about leadership dedicated to creative transformation of the chieftaincy institution in the context of Republican governance and employment opportunities to the working class of the society.
JOY2012 is a response to a call to the deprived and zongo communities where I was born and nurtured and to the Muslim youths whose dream of undertaking Hajj is quashed by the scheming of political supremos to derail the noble course of peace in Islam.
JOY2012 is a response to Yaa Asantewaa L/A authority, Opoku Ware International, Kumasi, Opoku Ware School, School of Engineering KNUST, Warwick University UK and Mannheim University, Germany.
JOY2012 is a wakeup call for our traditional chiefs to rise up and work for true democratic governance and to take their rightful position in the business of governance in Ghana. It is no surprise that history is being repeated by the Gas who even elected Dr. Kwame Nkrumah whilst he was in prison for central Accra constituency and the brave act by the late Nii Kwabena Bonne in January 1948, who led the boycott of European goods throughout the nation that accelerated our independence on 6th March 1957. The new freedom that our chiefs can bring in 2012 is for Ghanaians to reject the practice of political parties electing the president of Ghana.
Mr. Chairman, may I take this opportunity to respectfully urge the leadership of the two gates at Dagbon to understand that the real enemy of their existence and progress is political rhetoric. They need to strive to work together for peace and prosperity. Your lives and properties will be wasted away by depraved politicians' fake promises but they will always gain their votes at the expense of your blood.
JOY2012 is a response to the call by the Gold mining industry especially at AGA in Obuasi and all the mining companies in Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone and Association of Ghana Industries' (AGI) heartbeat. The response to the call by the Ghana Mines Workers Union of TUC in maximizing the returns of our natural resources and the call by the Business Council of Africa (BCA) for integrated business solution for the African continent.
JOY2012 is a response to the call of the Assemblies of God Church where I was baptized at the Central Assemblies at Akwatialine in Kumasi; a response to the Presbyterian church at Dekyemso, Yenyawoso. A response to a call for richness in Catholic education at Opoku Ware School. It is a response to the Methodist Church, where I was confirmed and continue to lead in diverse ways from Ahinsan, Obuasi Wesley and Adenta Resurrection, where I currently worship and the Ghana Methodist Students Union (GHAMSU).
JOY2012 is a response to the concerns of our religious leaders. To His Eminence the National Chief Imam, Sheik Nuhu Sharabutu to whom this vision was made known over a year ago. To Apostle Michael Ntumi, the Former Head of the Ghana Pentecost Church to whom this vision of calling was made known over four years ago. To Dr. Mensa Otabil, Archbishop Duncan Williams, to the President of Christian Council and Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, to Maulvi Dr. Wahab Adam, The Acting Chairman of National Peace Council and Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana and the numerous Prophets and men of God through whom God is sounding the prophetic bells for change in our political direction, JOY2012 is a response to that change.
JOY2012 is a response to the call of the rights of Muslim Women Association and cries of Women Aglow Ministries who have constantly been praying at the Independence Square to give birth to an Independent political structure and dynamic which holds the key that can unlock Africa's potential.
JOY2012 is a response to Rev. Emmanuel Apiadu, the head of Charismatic Miracle Church, who took me to his house in 1999 to live with him when cancer attempted to abort this vision as he was led by God when he did not even know me. It is also a call to Prophet of the Nations, Peter Anamon in 2001, who the Lord used to explain why I had the cancer. JOY2012 is like the boy David arriving at the battle grounds and by announcing his presence, changed the winning strategy and the known conventional tools for battle.
JOY2012 is a response for effective security for all. In this regard, the security forces will be depoliticized by ensuring that each force will elect its own trusted leader with much consultation and election led by the Electoral Commission instead of any form of imposition by political machinations.
JOY2012 is about the collective and concerted efforts by our Traditional Leaders, Religious Leaders and the business community leading the JOY2012 campaign to save Ghana for our lives, properties and businesses going beyond 2012 for authentic living and our co-existence in the Ghanaian society from political parties imperialistic control of our nation.
Mr. Chairman, Members of the press corps, this press conference will be meaningless, if as the 4th estate of our governance, you fail to correctly inform the masses. This is the moment to join the forces to educate the masses of the importance of election 2012 as a crossroads for our lives, properties and businesses and posterity going beyond 2012. The choice for the media, both print and electronic, is to say no to the dirty plans of depraved politicians.
As Ghanaians, we love and understand football, election 2012 is the half-time for political party activities. JOY2012 will mimic Aduana Stars who became the league champions in 2010 at their first appearance.
If anyone doubts the reality of JOY2012 this is your answer, though truth be alone it gets stronger day by day and "Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized. In the first stage it is ridiculed, in the second stage it is opposed, in the third stage it is regarded as self-evident" - Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher). JOY2012 will become self-evident by 2012.
Mr. Chairman, in rounding up, ladies and gentlemen, Ghana's illustrious son, and former UN Secretary General, Dr. Busumuru, Kofi Annan said "To live is to choose. But to choose, you must know WHO YOU ARE and what you stand for, where you want to go, and why you want to get there". Anyone can steer the ship but it takes a true leader to chart the course. JOY2012 will surely chart the course of Jobs to the people, Opportunities for all and Youth empowerment through business development for the emerging Ghana to a glorious destination.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, to conclude my discourse, a concerned very old woman at the age of 92 years, Madam Felicia Danquah from Larteh, Akuapem, queried, Are Ghanaians ready, my grandson, and will they choose life and the path of peace with JOY2012? There is no option to the choice of life was my answer and, therefore, as the heavens rain down righteousness and the cosmic powers release energy for JOY2012, the earth has responded, let every creature in Ghana, the Firmament, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Trees, the Sea, the Rivers, the Stones, the Mountains, the Valleys, every Altar, the Winds from the four corners and everything that has breath in the land of Ghana and the Africa Continent, in consent with one loud accent reject any Political Party evil machinations, so that there may be peace and goodness in Ghana and the Africa Continent.
GOD BLESS GHANA; GOD BLESS AFRICA; GOD BLESS THE BIRTH OF A NEW TRUE DEMOCRACY; GOD BLESS OUR CHIEFS, GOD BLESS OUR RELIGIOUS LEADERS; GOD BLESS GHANA'S BUSINESS PEOPLE; GOD BLESS JOY2012; AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND UNDERSTANDING.
Thank you for your presence
CONTACT:
For More Information, contact:
Jacob Osei Yeboah, No.7 Senchi Street Airport Residential Area
Accra Ghana-W/Africa
Tel: +233 302 780 662 / 777 019 Fax: +233 302 777 019
Cellphone: +233 244 461968 email: jacob.yeboah@gmail.com
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