Who earns our votes?

PRESIDENT J.D. MAHAMA (NDC)

OR

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP)

A Concerned Citizen has been delegated by the peace and loving Concerned Ghanaian Citizens to invite the NDC Presidential Candidate - His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, the President Of The Republic Of Ghana, and Nana Akufo Addo, the NPP Presidential Candidate to a show where they are given the opportunity to prove to the electorates their electability in the 2016 presidential election.

MODERATOR (CC):

Ladies and Gentlemen let's give the candidates rounds of applause. Thank you please you may be seated. Your Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana and (NDC) Presidential Candidate, and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo (NPP) Presidential Candidate, as you are aware this show is organized by the Concern Citizens of Ghana for both of you to convince the electorates why they should cast their votes for you. Each of you will be given two minutes to introduce yourself, the Political Party you represent; after which each of you will have three minutes to answer questions to be directed to you by the moderator. Nana Akufo Addo you'll take the first two minutes then his Excellency will take his turn.

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

Ha! ha haaaa!!! Fellow Ghanaians, as you all know I'm the only Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo (Alias All-Die-Be-Die); the three times NPP Presidential Candidate who woefully lost the 2008 and 2012 Presidential Election. The only Presidential Candidate who took hostage of the whole country by refuting the victory of the Elected President my opponent John Dramani Mahama and took him to court that lasted for one whole year by which the state lost much money. I haven't regretted it a bit because it is my right to be the President of Ghana since my father was Ghana's President. Look! I'm very confident this time I'll win the 2016 election come rain or shine because my strategies are working seriously. Can't you all see that I'm a very smart politician who knows how and when to get Ghanaians scared so they do according to my bidding for me to win the election? OK now watch this!!! I'm the only politician organizing demonstrations against Mahama's administration. I orchestrated the Doctors Strikes that caused the death of many patients who were left in the hospitals unattended to by doctors. I'm behind the Let My Votes Count Alliance (LMVCA) and demanding for the Voters Register to be changed to my favor. I'm always visiting UK and USA instigating the NPP (Nana Akufo Addo sympathizers) against the EC/Voters Register. Recently I sent Sir John the former NPP General Secretary to organize political meetings in Virginia. Those of you who live there should attend the meeting to be held in the House Of The Church auditorium to discuss our political ploy against Voters Register. Church gate fee shall be $100.00 each person; come one come all. Ha ha ha ha!!!! Eshie Radoradorado!!!!!

MODERATOR (CC):

Mr. President, you have two minutes. Over to you.

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Fellow Concerned Citizens I'm honored to be given this opportunity to establish rapport with you. I'm John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana. You elected me as your President to serve you so I'm your humble servant. I've been serving you with all diligence and the results of my service to the nation are seen in the Roads constructed and under construction, the Sugar Processing Plants in different Regions, Cape Coast Stadium, Legon - Madina Road, the Korley Bu Teaching Hospital Medical Supplies and Rehabilitation, the Pediatric Theatre which will operate with a World Standard Surgical Equipment, the Neonatal, Intensive Care, Baby Units and Mammography Center, the construction of Ho Airport and many more which are there to see. I want to appreciate your patience in the period when the opposition (NPP) organized series of of demonstrations and orchestrated strikes to discredit the NDC government. They were times when any leader would have ceded but by the grace of God I stood firm in the midst of the prevailing times. Your concern for our dear country encouraged me to stand the test before me. Your patriotism as concern citizens gave me hope that there are good citizens who are not obsessed with the political negative waves that push some people into undue actions.

There are more development every region would benefit from. As concerned citizens, be curious and find out if the NDC Government has brought any development in the country or not. Ghana needs honest citizens like you who would appreciate the developmental drive in the country. You are the concern citizens who would never stoop low for negativity and wouldn't settle for less. I'm not touched by the negativities of the NPP who wouldn't see any positive things that is being done in the country. I'm focused on my duty calls and determined to accomplishing the purpose of Better Ghana Agenda. I'm ready to serve you for a second term during which there will be more development in all the Regions in Ghana. Don't let the opposition deceive you on the development going on. Nana Akufo Addo and his NPP take joy in seeing their own people get hurt through demonstrations and don't care when patients die in the hospitals. How many casualties and deaths does he and his party want the concerned Ghanaian citizens face before they realize the much harm they are causing their fellow Ghanaians? Is that the kind of President you want for the country? A Presidential Candidate who doesn't care about the lives of his own party leaders how would he care for the citizens of the land? Well, you have rights to your votes; cast them into the ballot boxes that will attract your conscience. The decision is before the table of your heart where your children and posterity's lives depend on. Remember your votes would determine the future of your children. Any presidential candidate who depends on demonstrations and all-die-be-die antics to win election will always be defeated, because becoming a President of Ghana is not by demonstrations nor by All-Die-Be-Die, but by the divine intervention of God. I count on you to cast your ballots into the box of conscience and development (NDC).

EY3 ZU EY3 ZA, EY3 ZUZU EY3 ZAZA

EY3 ZAZA EY3 ZUZU.

MODERATOR (CC):

We have come into the second section of the show. This time I'll be directing questions to each Candidate and two minutes will be used in answering the questions. Mr President you take the first question:

(CC) Mr. President how would you rate your work so far in terms of accountability?

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Thank you concerned citizen; I'd rather expect my service to the country be rated by fellow Ghanaians based on what they see. To refresh the memories of the people in order to make their assessment I'll list some of the developments in different areas.

(1) The facelift of Kotoka International Airport Arrival Hall in progress.

(2) Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange

(3) Legon - Madina Roads

(4) Awoshie - Pokuase Road

(5) I've mandated the Board of Management of Electricity Company of Ghana to encourage the manufacturing of Local Electrical Products such as: Cables, Transformers, Meters, etc.; these will cut down the financial expenses incurred through the importation of such goods.

(6) Flour Mill is producing Local Flour from Cassava, Maize and Sorghum.

(7) Free SHS Education

(8) Fufulsa-Sawla Road under construction.

(9) Work on Sawla to Wa is in progress

(10) The construction of Bosno Daboya Digbisi Makango is under construction.

(11) Under the National Medical Equipment Replacement Program, 40 Districts Hospitals have been distributed with modern Equipment. To mention just a few:

(a) Ridge Hospital

(b) Tema General Hospital

(c) 37 Military Hospital

(d) Princess Marie Louise Children Hospital

(e) Mamobi General Hospital

(f) Tamale Teaching Hospital

(g) Konfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

(12) The NDC Government under my administration is expanding the Health Training Facilities, Additional Nursing/Midwifery Training and Medical Assistant Institute are on course.

(13) The Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa is on course

(14) The sod of Phase 2 of the expansion and upgrading of Tamale Teaching Hospital has been cut.

(15) 1,900 Communities in the Rural have seen improvement of New School Blocks which have replaced the shift system.

(16) The decision of the NDC Government migrating Colleges of Education into the Students Loan Scheme has brought increase in enrollment from 9,000 to 15,000.

(17) Construction of New Sugar Processing Plant at Komenda in Central Region is on.

(18) Sugar Processing Plant in the North near Savelugu is there.

(19) Valco will be in operation soon. It is already in the pipeline.

(20) Huge money is being saved from importation of refined Petroleum Products by a joint venture between TOR and PETRO SAUDI.

(21) I've asked the Ghana Cocoa Board to encourage production of Local Jute Sacks instead of importing them.

I can go on and on but for time factor these few projects stated should be an eye opener for the Concerned Citizens to know that the Better Ghana Agenda is on course.

MODERATOR (CC):

Nana Addo, you have thirty seconds to rebut.

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

Mr. President, the Free SHS Education, was it not my idea you implemented? That was my strongest campaign strategy to win the Election but you have used it. Why did you do that? Now I'm left with no choice than to depend on demonstrations.

MODERATOR (CC):

Mr. President what would you say to that accusation?

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Nana Akufo Addo, first of all I want to thank you for addressing and acknowledging me as your President. It is my honor to serve you as your President after the 2016 election. Having said that I would like to comment on the Free SHS Education you are lamenting on having been already implemented by my administration. It is unfortunate the Free SHS Education is the only vision you have for Ghanaians. Too bad! Accept my sympathy for having no vision left with you for the nation. So, all you would have done for Ghanaians is Free SHS Education. It is very sad to see and hear you complain in the media that since your only policy or manifesto “FREE SHS EDUCATION" have been implemented you don't have anything to prove to the electorates what you will do for the nation when given the mandate. This is too bad!!! The Elephants are running under the Umbrella seeking for refuge. How are the Mighty falling, tell it not in UK and publish it not in the street of Virginia, USA when holding political ploy in The House of the Lord Church charging gate fee of $100.00 each.

MODERATOR (CC):

Nana Akufo Addo I can see you want to rebut. You have thirty seconds.

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

You are a small boy. I started politics before you were born. It is my turn to become the President of Ghana even if it is just one day, but you are doing everything to block my chance. I tried the Pink Sheets on you but you escaped; I tried demonstrations and you seem not to care. I tried the strikes to discredit your government by using the doctors but you still escaped it by bringing in Cuban Doctors to save lives. I'm trying hard to see if the "Let My Vote Count" will work so that the voters register will be changed to my favor, but your prayer seem to be blocking it. Who are you?

MODERATOR (CC):

Hon. Nana Akufo Addo you have three minutes to answer the next question. You described in the media that President Mahama's Free SHS Program implementation is slower than the movement of the snail. How would you explain that to the ordinary Ghanaian?

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

Look!!! The Free SHS program was my idea and main Campaign strategy so I know how fast I would have executed it.

MODERATOR (CC):

Hon. Nana, you still haven't answered the question. How would you have executed that policy faster than the President'?

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

Look, I'll not be lured into revealing my strategies for him to start using it against me.

MODERATOR (CC):

Mr. President you have thirty seconds to rebut his statement of the slowness of your Free SHS Educational policy.

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Hon. Nana Akufo Addo is right in his description of a snail's pace.

My administration has a lot of policies that need to be executed within a short term period in governance. All of them are needed for the development of the country and Free SHS Education is one of the developmental plans for the nation. I deserve credit on the development in the country. After all, he has made it clear that the Free SHS Educational policy is all he has for the nation. His speed of executing it will be faster than the space ship. I wonder how Ghana would look like when everyone becomes either students or teachers.

However, we have gone far in the executions of the NDC policies and we have more to offer the people.

MODERATOR (CC):

Next question Mr. President. What would you say about Anas Aremeyaw Anas and you conducting the “Dangerous Bole Raid Investigation?"

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Wow!!! You are a true concerned citizen indeed. Well, it is true; I was then the Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboo.

The "Bole Rebel Raid" in April 2005 was an incident of the abduction of one of the Chiefs during the brouhaha in the period of Ex-President J. A. Kufour's government and Nana Akufo Addo in the NPP government. As a patriotic Ghanaian, I didn't wait for the Kufour/Akufo Addo government to use the so called snail pace in unveiling the miseries of the abduction, so I took that dangerous mission for the love I have for humanity and service to my constituency. The aftermath is a stale affair but the essence of the mission is a subject of interest. My Bole Raid Mission is an evidence of my eligibility of answering to a wake-up call even as a Member of Parliament. If out of love and sacrifice to my people's safety I took that dangerous mission it defines my unconditional love for the people of Ghana as their President.

This is seen in the services I render to the nation in spite of the demonstrations, strikes and insults I receive but I'm not perturbed for I see that as the cross I need to carry for the concerned citizens. The dangerous mission I took on the Bole Rebel Raid also defines my zero tolerance for corruption, marginalization and violence. With this record of credibility as the President I take the sanity of the people very Paramount. Under my watch, Law and order shall be observed and no one will be bigger than our Nation Ghana and no one would take the law into his/her own hands.

MODERATOR (CC):

Nana Akufo Addo you have the next question. The Ghana Bar Association advised the EC not to be pressured to change the Voters Register. This new position is different from the assertions of your Let My Vote Count (LMVC). In respect of your organized LMVC demonstrations some of your key leaders were said to have been hurt by the police. In your honest view as a Presidential Candidate would you affirm that demonstrators stretched beyond their bounds?

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

The police disobeyed the law. It was a peaceful demonstration! Is this justice?

Can we trust the police for the safety of the people of Ghana? There is corruption in the Police Force; this is too bad.

MODERATOR (CC):

Nana Akufo Addo if you were the President of Ghana would you have encouraged the vandalization of EC office? Would you subscribe to the opposition taking their demonstration to the premises of the EC without the police performing their duties?

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

What have the demonstrators destroyed?

We are only requesting for the voters registers to be changed

MODERSTOR (CC):

Your Excellency what is your view on this?

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Demonstration is lawful but the approach should be expediently observed. Demonstrations fraught with anger and bickering breed violence. It is worrying to hear Nana Akufo Addo (NPP) Presidential Candidate described his organized demonstrations as peaceful when it was evident that they stretched beyond their limits. What exactly is he implying? Does it mean that anything that doesn't favour him is not acceptable even though it favors Ghanaians? What Nana Addo has not been able to establish about the said Voters Register is what led to the bloated voters register. Who should be held responsible for the bloating? Who is to bear the cost for their proposed new voters register? What assurance is Nana Addo and the NPP giving Ghanaians that the new voters register would be 100% void of bloating? They should also promise the electorates that in the event the new voters register doesn't come out as expected they should be held responsible for causing financial loss. At the Stake Holder Forum held to determine a decision on the voters register the CPP who was siding with the NPP for a new voters register was asked if their poling agents were present during the compilation of the voters register, his answer depicted total ignorance. Is Nana Addo, the NPP and CPP ready to bear the cost of a new register or they assume the rest of the political parties will just jump at bearing the cost of what they never opted for? I expected Nana Akufo Addo and his colleagues to have exposed to the public their poling agents who due to negligence of duty didn’t append their signatures. Why would the innocent voters suffer the negligence of only two political parties out of many registered political parties? Why would the NPP think out of the 15 registered political parties, it's only their votes that must count? Why would Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP take joy in scaring the Ghanaian populace of war or always reminding us of what happened in Ivory Coast? I want to assure all Ghanaians that no one should be scared of anyone for God is our protection and any plot made against us shall not prosper. Our God who has been protecting us will not allow any evil plots against our nation (Ghana) to materialize. Ghana is a God fearing Nation; therefore, God will continue to release his army of Angels to stop any evil plan against His people. Ghana should be rest assured for God is in control. All Ghanaians have to do is prepare their consciences for who to cast their votes for. If you vote for J D Mahama (NDC) it means you want me to continue the development the NDC Government is spreading all over the country. We in NDC believe in building strong links with the people in Ghana making the people in the rural also know that I'm here to serve them so they can appreciate why they should vote for me and the NDC. Patriotic and honest leader is what we need; and that's why you voted for me in the first place and that's why you will vote for me in 2016 election by the grace of God (Insha Allah). It is God who enthrones Kings, if he doesn't endorse you the people will not. As NDC Presidential Candidate for the 2016 election, I will accept the votes of the people and the declaration of the verdict announced by the Electoral Commission.

Ghana is for all of us and the earlier we accept the fact that any Ghanaian Citizen has the right to become the president when voted for, the better it will be for us to know that no individual, family or political partiy is entitled to the Presidency. It is not a legacy, monarchy nor property but a Democratic Seat. Therefore, the votes of the electorates and declaration of the EC must be respected. Let us respect the sanity God has endowed us with and seek the interest of the people.

MODERATOR (CC):

Your Excellency, recalling the time you were sworn into office as the President of the Republic of Ghana you were welcomed by the opposition, to be specific

Nana Akufo Addo and his NPP with Pink Sheets Court Case that was followed by series of strikes; and the Court proceeding took almost a year just to ascertain the authenticity of your victory. As a result, a whole year was disrupted from your four-year term, and since then, demonstrations and orchestrated strikes have been staged not to talk of the insults rained on you from all angles of the opposition discrediting your government. With this tension it is unusual for a leader to be as composed as you are seen to be. How did you handle this type of storm from the opposition or better still hurricanes? What was or is your trick Mr. President? Honestly you always appear as though nothing is wrong.

PRESIDENT JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA (NDC):

Wow!!! You’ve made my day. As to whether I felt the internal attack on my administration I would say I felt it somehow, but I saw it as a ploy to distract my attention from the wonderful Better Ghana Agenda my late mentor His Excellency President Professor Evans Atta Mills of blessed memory left me to accomplish. Don't also forget that I've worked under my political father His Excellency Ex-President John Jerry Rawlings; so you see I was privileged to have worked with two great Ghana Presidents, one is “King of Patience" and the other is " King of Bravery " so what do you expect me to be " Son of Both " of course. Mr. Moderator I was mandated as President by the people to Man the affairs of this country so I'm not supposed to be stooping for any negative waves or wind that blows. Any patriotic Ghanaian who wants to serve the nation shouldn't fight his neighbour to assume office. This is a servanthood position so why should a Presidential Candidate take internal matters and sell us to the world. We have able and qualified Electoral Commission that have been handling our elections even the one that led Ex-President Kufour and Nana Akufo Addo's NPP into power for 2000 and 2004 respectively, by then Akufo Addo and NPP didn't see the Voters Register as bloated. The humiliation and impudence meted out to me rather made me tougher and humble at the same time. I have duties to perform for my people so I don't have time for negative waves. Remember tough times never last, but tough people do.

MODERATOR (CC):

Hon. Nana what would say about organizing the NPP demonstrations?

NANA AKUFO ADDO (NPP):

Look! When things don't go right we fix it.

Demonstrations are to cause the awareness of the people about the hardships. You are all small boys; everyone is saying Nana is bad, Nana smokes marijuana, he has drug baron’s partners in UK who sponsor his political ambitions; he wants to use them to run a drug cartel government in Ghana. Some even say I should go for drug test which I refused. Others who won't mind their businesses said I've caused division in the NPP. Yes!! I organize demonstrations through my cousin Otchere Gabby so what!!! What is wrong in asking Sir John to organize a political meeting in The House of the Lord Church in Virginia, USA which $100.00 each was charge as gate fees? I have a campaign strategy to win the 2016 election, and anyone who work against me will be in my blue book. I'll not take chances; this is neither my show not Kufour’s, Afoko’s Agyepong’s nor Kyeremanteng's. I want to be President, that's it!!! Eshie rado rado rado!!!!

MODERATOR (CC):

Fellow Ghanaians the show has come to an end. You sent me to represent you in organizing this show so as to find out who earns our votes, and my interaction with the two Presidential Candidates, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, Presidential Candidate of NDC proved to be the better candidate who earns our votes come the 2016 Presidential Election.

That is my honest verdict.

Thank you.

By Eye Zu Atlanta

eyezuatlanta@gmailcom