Shall we humbly bow down our heads and observe one minute silence for our departed founding fathers some of which could have been Council of Elders, and other recent past delegates who would have been here with us today as voters and observers but death has laid its icy hands and prevented them to be participants at this venue. Short Prayer – The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all creatures be silent before Him.
EESHIE ! EESHIE ! ! EESHIE ! ! ! RADO ! RADO ! ! RADO ! ! !
Mr. Chairman, Nananom, Nii Mmee, Naa Mmee, Fiawo, Jama, Your Excellencies, the President and his Vice of the Republic of Ghana, who happens to be an Aspirant, Council of Elders, the National Executive Members, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Hon. Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament, Members of the Inky Frater- nity, Fellow Combatants, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, all protocols observed, I have great pleasure and singular honour to stand before this august gathering to give an address to prove my worth that when I am given the nod, I can conveniently and successfully win the enviable presidency for our noble party – the NPP.
H I S T O R I C
Today is a historic day and to make it a more memorable one, I would like to crave your collective indulgence to depend on your positive co-operation, goodwill, mutual respect to be able to reshape the destinies of the good people of this country. From now until December 7, 2008, and beyond, the good people of Ghana have got to have a positive change of heart, attitude to work, behavioural change in lifestyles, humility to God our Creator, and together we will build Ghana for ourselves and the future generation yet unborn.
ENDOWMENT
I know this Nation Ghana is very richly endowed with almost all the natural talents, human potentials and huge resources. Talents and potentials abound such as human resources, manpower development et cetera. With requisite personnel in the medical field, engineering, architecture, education, agriculture, nursing, the media and what have you, we will surely tap all these and systematically apply the available science and technology to make Ghana a showpiece and a beacon to champion the African excellence. The discovery of oil in Ghana is God-sent. To me, I think the Lord has actually listened to our supplication and answered our prayer. We must learn from the mistakes of others who have misused their God-given resources. The era of ‘it belongs to Aban’ to wit, It’s government property and therefore does not need protection or maintenance, is gone and gone forever. We should all learn to say now, ‘it belongs to us‘. We should begin to harness all our individual potentials to the maximum benefit of the entire population. May we all be guided by this golden rule and noble principle to achieve much more for Mother Ghana to serve as a bait for our countrymen and women to return home for the fruits of our honest and dedicated labour.
RENAISSANCE
It is my fervent prayer that I secure some 200 dedicated, honest, faithful, loyal, down-to-earth, selfless Ghanaians including myself who will serve as the nucleus of a new Ghana just as the 53 founding fathers of the USA who once converged or met in the Mayflower buildings to offer themselves wholeheartedly for the just cause – the volunteer corps – to help sacrifice and make Almighty America what it is today with their time, wisdom, strength, money, energy, unity, et cetera. This crop of 200 men and women to be drawn up from all over the country should, as a matter of urgency, include doctors, nurses, farmers, architects, lawyers, accountants, teachers, market women, labourers, fishermen, engineers, traders, ministers of religion, Muslim leaders, students of all categories, artisans – carpenters, masons, painters, electricians, plumbers, and what have you. In fact this cream of rejuvenated Ghanaians should focus on the sense of belongingness, change in attitude, behaviour, time conscious- ness, not bearing in mind any specific time for the African but the Whiteman’s time so that we pledge ourselves to be caring for Mother Ghana in rain, shine, in happiness, or sorrow, war or peace, for better or for worse, and to continue to do the right thing all the time and to re-dedicate ourselves for this just cause for a more prosperous Ghana. The word ‘corruption’ should never ever be found anywhere in our vocabulary; we should never behave un-Ghanaian, but to work tirelessly for our dear country just as some of us work in foreign lands.
TEAM MATES
We are all going to work as a team, and as a team, you and I will become team-mates each playing his or her position assigned to him or her. If we decide to sit down unconcerned on the fence, it will definitely not augur well for us. We should work hard and harder than ever before. Not only the skies should be our limit but also become a developed country and possibly as ‘an Asian Tiger’ in the sub-region by the year 20l5. Honestly, my heart aches many a time whenever Ghana goes begging for economic ‘alms’ from outside. Is it because I happen to be a renowned international heart surgeon? I really do not know. Perhaps, the riddle may unfold later when I assume the mantle of leadership of this dear country. We should learn to domesticate our resources by adding value to them before they are exported abroad. We should know that life is a teacher; the more we live, the more we learn and Ghanaians should embrace themselves up to face the realities and challenges ahead to make life better for all.
MAN MADE SHORTCOMINGS
The general infrastructure of this country will continue to get a boost. Water, good roads, culverts, bridges, drainage systems will be improved. Most school libraries will have new stocks. Perennial floods will be fought fiercely, health, food, mountains of refuse will become a thing of the past as drastic measures will be taken to address it. The Ghanaian apathy to solving the filth will pre-occupy my government’s attention. My government will ensure to provide the basic life ingredients in no time i.e. give shelter to the homeless, feed the hungry, educate the illiterate, offer medical assistance to the sick, waifs and strays and try to create employment for the jobless. In summary, I will ensure that all will be taken care of including the physically handicapped in society. In short, if a monkey is amongst dogs, why can’t it start barking? This literally means that everyone should be well catered for so as to prevent any untoward murmurings from any quarter of the economy. My Administration will refurbish almost all the dilapidated prison houses because they are meant for reformation and not for punishment. The inmates should return home to join their loved ones and families’ well reformed and new kind of persons ready to be absorbed into society.
JOB CREATION
As the NPP Government continues to generate employment for our teeming youth, the ageing personnel in the Military, Police, Prisons, CEPS, Immigration etc. will be paid off their end of service benefits to pave way for the youth . It is common knowledge that some of these service personnel may not have made some prior arrangement for housing accommodation hence their intentional decision to stay on and my government will see to it that they are provided same. Some of the viable industries and factories that have by stroke of accident been closed down for ages will have to be revived to create jobs and employment for the youth. Again, some of the Teacher Training Colleges will have to be refurbished and new ones built to train more teachers for our young ones. Existing second cycle institutions and of course the tertiary ones will get new facelift – that is more accommodation facilities and research facilities will be provided and new ones built to attract more admissions.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATION
More of the cheap accommodation like the Flagstaff House barracks will be put up in all the regional capitals to solve the needs of the down-trodden and low income earning workers. Not a single one will be sold to the elite class. Even if it takes long time to repay the cost, my government will have that time and patience.
TRANSPORTATION
My Administration will ensure it secures at least one sea-worthy merchant vessel to raise Ghana’s prestige in the merchant shipping industry. This measure will improve the hopes and aspirations of the former employees of the Black Star Line some of whose livelihood depended solely on the flagship of the national carrier.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Chairman, Nananom, Nii Mmee, Naa Mmee, Fiawo, Jama, Most revered Council of Elders, Your Excellencies, the President and the Vice, Hon. Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament, Members of the Inky Fraternity, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Very Important Constituency Executives and our Compa- triots from the Diaspora, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not personally expect any of you personalities gathered here today including my Fellow Combatants to be so hypnotized by this soul-touching and soul-searching speech but to vote massively for me according to the dictates of your individual conscience. I know with your support, and the Lord in control and directing the affairs, I shall emerge victorious at this crucial election. Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, you are all welcome to this function as I shall fall on you for wisdom as they say, one head does not form a council. Without your unflinching support my work will definitely be in vain. Not by might, not by strength, but by His Grace the historical event we are witnessing here today for the first time with about a dozen former ministers makes it more historic because previously none of our congresses had a minister as an aspirant having been in the opposition incognito but thank Heavens, we are all here as participants to select a flagbearer to contest a General Election and hand over to another government. I believe when we all put our hands on deck, we shall be able to steer the affairs of this Nation to a successful end by making Ghana the food basket of the sub-region by concentrating much of our attention on the agrarian potentials of the three northern regions. And by the command of God, I know all of you delegates from the North, South, East, West and the Diasporan Delegates, i.e. the USA, Great Britain and Ireland, Canada, Germany, France and the entire world, will be touched by this soul-piercing message. The verdict is however in your sacred hands and I leave you to take a good decision. God Save Ghana. God Save NPP. God Bless us All.
THANKS
Once again, I thank you all most sincerely for gracing this momentous occasion with your presence. May God help us all and lead us to the Promised Land where milk and honey abound. Thank you, Naa Goode, Oyiwa donn, Akpe kakaka, Meda mo nyinaa ase, Merci tres bien, Danke Schon.
