President John Dramani Mahama has so far proven beyond all reasonable doubt as the only candidate with an enviable record that stands tall amongst his peers and remains unmatched in all facets of Ghana’s modern political dispensation. His long years of political and civil experience coupled with his high level of integrity gives credence to his overwhelming endorsement of 99.5% of delegate’s votes that eventually placed him in the driver’s seat to lead Ghana along the asphalted path (created by his predecessor Prof John Evans Atta Mills) to a better and a prosperous Ghana come December 2012.
There is an implicit awareness of how much a mediocre type of leadership as witnessed by Ghanaians between the year 2001 to 2008 has adversely affected Ghana’s efforts to develop to its full potentials and give to her citizens the quality of life they deserve. The irony is that Ghana is not devoid of effective leadership. The NDC in 2008 with the unflinching support of the good people of Ghana freely and fairly grabbed power from the hands of the property owning capitalist party and has since then brought back hope, freedom and justice to the doorsteps of the people of Ghana as enshrined in our constitution which is highly revered by the ruling NDC party.. What is particularly amazing is that, in spite of the terrible political victimization and incessant brutalities meted out to Ghanaians and particularly NDC sympathizers during the eight years rule of the untamed Elephant, we had leaders of the NDC in parliament who continued the freedom fight to keep Ghana and its dear party the NDC running.
Among such fearless and assertive parliamentarians was President John Dramani Mahama who served the people of Bole and Ghana for 12years as Member of Parliament. This they did with the hope that the eight years rule of recklessness under the elephant will be over with the NDC taken over power and displaying the qualities of mind, selflessness, integrity, probity and accountability which forms the cardinal principles upon which the NDC party was built – this dream has eventually paid off. Indeed, it is a known fact that the state of Ghana under the leadership of the NPP remains an indelible scar on the ethics of the of Ghana and Africa as a whole. More than half of Ghana’s population of approximately 25million people lived on less than a dollar a day, more than a million of the country’s children did not have access to basic and secondary school, high mortality rate among women and children, malnutrition and low quality of life due to extreme poverty, etc.
An unbiased assessment of the eight (8) year rule of the NPP regime revealed that the deterioration in the life of Ghanaians had more to do with the poor quality of leadership, which had featured among other ills, bad governance, blatant corruption, nepotism and absolute disregard for the principles of good governance and democracy of which Nana Akuffo Addo was a key stakeholder. The sorry leadership record of the NPP that nearly collapsed Ghana's economy and that earned the NPP the Voters' rejection at the 2008 Polls, despite their desperate machinations to thwart the People's Will and retain Power is a solid confirmation of the unbiased assessment as clearly shown above.
Under the NDC administration, Ghana’s Good governance record has set the normative standards of development for the country’s people. Presently the country’s people can be proud of an all-inclusive participation, an ensured transparency, accountability, efficiency, and an upheld rule of law in economic, political and administrative institutions and processes. There is no doubt that under President John Mahama, Ghana’s democracy and good governance record will not only continue to be a hallmark of political maturity but also a step towards continuous growth and poverty reduction. Under the NDC and the able leadership of John Dramani Mahama, Justice is no less important a public good than basic education and primary health care. The Mills/Mahama Government has laid the FOUNDATION for a Better Ghana, and it is President Mahama's MISSION and passion to bring to fruition the deliverables for A Better Ghana.
The framework of rule of law, which serves as the foundation for a democratic society has been strengthened. Its effect on economic performance, social development, and the enormous infrastructure development and transformation of the country has been pervasive. Otherwise stated, the concretized rule of law under the NDC administration has been a key element in the improvement of public health, the safeguarding of citizens’ rights, uncompromising security and of the unrelentless fight against poverty and against other visible developmental challenges in present Ghana. There is no iota of doubt about President John Mahama’s unmatched ability to win the upcoming elections on the bases of the successful advancement of the Party’s Better Ghana Agenda Pillars: INVESTING IN PEOPLE; EXPANDING THE ECONOMY / CREATING JOBS; EXPANDING INFRASTRUCTURE; TRANSPARENT and ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE, in addition to the current NDC Government's record of delivery in rescuing the National Economy from near-collapse, and the expansion of the Economy from GhC 30 Billion to GhC 70 Billion within a an unprecedented spate of three years.
The clear picture is that, more Ghanaians can be seen making their way to a middle class status from a low class. The introduction of the single spine salary structure, the better resourcing of our education institutions as well as the introduction of two new public universities which allows for more and quality trained professionals therefore adding to the rich human resource base of the country, provision of modernized equipment for small and large scale farmers allowing for a growth in food production, improvement in infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals are all good calls by the NDC and a total reflection of good leadership hence good governance.
Today, Ghanaians are hailed across the world for sustaining economic and political stability in a world where even the most powerful countries are struggling to stabilize their economies in the face of economic downturn. The attainment of the longest ever single inflation digit, the current cedi appreciation to the dollar, and the high records of tourist visits to the country are all reelections of good governance. Under the Mills Mahama administration and now President Mahama’s administration, state institutions have been more equipped with not just knowledge base but also the needed resources to develop the country to its full potential.
The accountable and good leadership qualities entrenched in Ghana by the President has manifested itself in the judicious utilization of Ghana’s rich resources such as gold, agriculture proceeds, and the intellectual human resource and the just discovered oil including international support for the benefit of its people. A democratized state should evolve into a sound and accountable system for drawing-up budgets, implementing them and monitoring their impact in order to promote development. This is the trademark of the NDC and this is the vision of President John Dramani Mahama. The VISION and MISSION ahead of Ghana is to accelerate the realization of A Better Ghana, and who is more qualified to lead Ghana into this exciting future than H.E John Dramani Mahama who co-fathered the Vision of a Better Ghana together with our Dear Late President Atta Mills?
President John Mahama’s administration in its first hundred days since he became president following the death of our Late Prof. Mills, has demonstrated a great deal of change in leadership style and has created an atmosphere of all inclusiveness which encompasses people from all levels of the society irrespective of age, gender, political or ethnic affiliation to help fuel the engine of growth for nation building and promote integrity, transparency and accountability. The election of John Dramani Mahama in the 2012 election will therefore not be the beginning of unity that Ghanaians have embraced for the past two decades but rather it will be the continuation of the solid foundation the Mills/Mahama administration laid for the past three and half years. It's only fair and wise that he who lays the Foundation must build the structure and ultimately the House or Edifice. Ghana cannot afford to release her current Mission of building A Better Ghana into the hands of unproven aspiring leaders, and worse still into the hands of the NPP who were given an opportunity in 2000 and failed abysmally after eight year of misrule.
Making a wise decision in 2012 is very crucial to the development of our country and we all need not be reminded in the face of all the successes this country has chalked under the NDC rule. What we need to be reminded of is that, Ghana’s future lies in our hands, particularly the youth of the country. We have choices to make and the question is what kind of foundation do we want to inherit? Our appeal to our fellow YOUTH and the country-at-large is that, Ghana cannot afford to toy around and tinker with her future, because that future is EVERY GHANAIAN'S FUTURE-both born and unborn! Let's seize control of our National future by pursuing our shared vision of a better and prosperous future. Changing the Presidency and leadership of Ghana at this point in her history is like re-jumping in the middle of a long jump attempt. We all know that one cannot re-jump in mid-air when performing a single long jump. Stay with your jump and complete the jump -- elect John Mahama for continuity. TOASO, YI DZI, TSA NOH,
Moses Kanduri
Spokesperson on Governance for The Young Democrats (TYDE)
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