Today in History: We’ll build Ghana like Korea – Akufo-Addo

In May 2016 during the final lap of campaigns ahead of the general elections, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who was then the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), promised Ghanaians that he would rebuild the country’s economy like South Korea has done if given the nod.

He is quoted to have said, “We will emulate the successes of Korea.”

Akufo-Addo said this in response to questions posed by Nana Dr. SKB Asante, Omanhen of Asokore Mampong in the Ashanti Region, during the 10th-anniversary celebration of the passing away of Professor Albert Kwadwo Adu Boahen, the 1992 presidential candidate of the NPP.

He hinted that when given the nod, his government would work hard to transform the nation’s economy from its current state of hopelessness.

Read the full story originally published on May 26, 2016, on Ghanaweb

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has reiterated his assurance that Ghana will not be the same as it is today when given the nod as the next president.

According to him, when elected into office as the next president on November 7, his government, with the support of all well-meaning Ghanaians, would work assiduously to rebuild the country’s economy like South Korea has done.

“We will emulate the successes of Korea,” the astute politician and statesman said.

The NPP leader was responding to questions posed by Nana Dr. SKB Asante, Omanhen of Asokore Mampong in the Ashanti Region, during the 10th-anniversary celebration of the passing away of Professor Albert Kwadwo Adu Boahen, the 1992 presidential candidate of the NPP.

The Omanhen, who chaired the public lecture which coincided with the launch of the Adu Boahen Foundation, had questioned why Ghana, with all its natural and human resources, had not been able to match up with South Korea over the years in terms of economic development.

Nana Addo, who was given the opportunity to make a few remarks at the lecture, stated emphatically that achieving the successes of Korea was something a government to be headed by him could do.

He hinted that when given the nod, his government would work hard to transform the nation’s economy from its current state of hopelessness.

Great Figure

Nana Addo described the late Adu Boahen as a historian and politician who broke the culture of silence prevailing in the country during the PNDC era, saying he (Adu Boahen) was one of the great figures of modern Ghana. According to him, Prof. Adu Boahen fought assiduously to restore democratic rule in the country.

“His influence on our lives is tremendous. It appears that today there is no serious opposition to democratic rule; and Adu has a lot to do with that,” Nana observed.

Columnist and former editor of the state-owned Daily Graphic, Cameron Duodo, delivering the keynote address on the occasion, spoke extensively about the life of Prof. Adu Boahen – from the academics to politics and humanity. Prof. Adu Boahen, he said, was very meticulous in his research works and strived hard to teach his contemporaries that they all had a key role to play in building their country.

That, Mr Duodu said, was evidenced in his (Prof’s) struggle for freedom and justice – something that led him to break the culture of silence in the country at the time during his famous discourse at the 1998 Busia Lecture held at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

According to the prolific writer, Prof. Adu Boahen drew his inspiration in the fight against injustices in his society at the time from the late Asante queen mother – Yaa Asantewaa.

Prof Kwasi Prempeh, a Ghanaian law lecturer, argued that the proliferation of the media in Ghana today, which is a mark of Prof. Adu Boahen’s struggle for freedom and justice, had not earned the country “a significant governance dividend.”

According to Prof Prempeh, some key information emanating from the corridors of power which are necessary for public consummation, are for some conspicuous reasons never published by the media.

“What we are experiencing as voice today is a voice without any sustained collective action behind it,” he noted.

He urged journalists to use their watchdog role to “bring back sanity” in the Ghanaian body politics.

Prof. Adu Boahen, the first indigenous lecturer of history at the University of Ghana (UG), was born on May 24, 1932, and died on May 24, 2006 after a long battle with stroke.

In attendance at the lecture were top NPP members, including Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, vice presidential candidate of the party.