The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says President Mahama’s tenure of office has been nothing short of a disaster for the country, resulting in unprecedented levels of hardship and suffering amongst Ghanaians.
With President Mahama urging Ghanaians to ignore Nana Akufo-Addo’s “try me” appeal and not to experiment with a new President in 2016, the NPP flagbearer noted that “the experience of the person there now has been a disastrous experience for our country.”
In view of this “disastrous experience”, Nana Akufo-Addo asked: “So what is the purpose of the continuity? Are we going to continue the disaster? Is that what we want to do? We want to get rid of the disaster, and bring in a man with new ideas and a fresh direction for our nation.”
The NPP flagbearer was addressing hundreds of residents at Nandom, on Saturday, September 3, 2016, on the first day of his 2-day tour of the Upper West Region, when he made these remarks.
Appealing to residents, and Ghanaians to have confidence in him, Nana Akufo-Addo assured that “I am not coming to fill my pockets with your money. I am coming to work to straighten up our country and bring it back to prosperity again.”
I have no interest in Ford Expeditions
Having visited Hamile, in the Lambussie constituency, prior to his tour of Nandom, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the first road one drives on, upon entering Ghana from Burkina Faso, is the road from Hamile to Nandom, which leads further down south. These roads, he stated, are in deplorable conditions, having driven on them on his way to Hamile.
“This is not the road Ghana should be introduced to people from Burkina Faso. This dirt road? We are going to do something about it, take it from me. People should have a better impression of our country than this road,” he added.
The NPP flagbearer assured residents that his government, God-willing from January 2017, will ensure that the link road from Hamile to Nandom and further down into the Upper West Region is constructed.
The award of the contract for the road, he added, will be done by competitive tendering, and not sole sourcing, which has been the norm and method for the award of contracts under the Mahama administration.
“We are going to find the contractor by a process of competitive bidding. We are not going to go into a room and sit down with one person and say yes (you have the contract). I have no interest in Cadillacs or Fords or whatever. We want to do a job for Ghana, a good job for that matter,” he said.
Additionally, he assured residents of Nandom and the Upper West Region, who have fallen prey to microfinance scams, that “if by the time 7th January comes, and, by the Grace of God, I have taken the Oath of Office, and all these matters of the Microfinance institutions have not been sorted out, I am coming to make sure that things are sorted out.”
Nana Akufo-Addo urged residents of Nandom to vote for the NPP’s candidate for the constituency, Hon. Ambrose Dery, stressing that “the change that is blowing across the entire country has to embrace one of the best men you have in the politics of the Upper West.”
Hon. Ambrose Dery, the NPP flagbearer added, “was a brilliant Minister from the Upper West Region. He was a brilliant Regional Minister, and I have no doubt the he is going to be a brilliant Minister in Akufo-Addo’s cabinet.”
In concluding, the NPP flagbearer appealed to residents of the Upper West Region to restore their links with the NPP, explaining that the Region is where some of the important leaders of the NPP’s political tradition hailed from.
“Their names are written in gold in the history of Ghana – S.D. Dombo, B.K. Adama, Jato Kaleo, Mumuni DImbie, Abaayifa Karbo. These are the names of the men who got up to fight for freedom for our country, at great personal cost, to build Ghana’s democracy. They are turning in their graves knowing that, today, we don’t have a political presence in the Upper West. I am pleading with you. This election, let us restore the NPP to its heritage and connect it to the people who built that heritage.”