Anthony Abayifaa Karbo
The Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways, Anthony Abayifaa Karbo, has called on Ghanaians, especially the youth and women, to support President Akufo-Addo to win a second term so he can continue with the provision of laudable programmes and initiatives.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Lawra, while speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the USA branch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Dallas, Texas, last Saturday, lauded President Akufo-Addo for thinking of the next generation, not the next elections, based on the kind of policies he is implementing.
“We have a President who is not thinking about elections tomorrow. President Akufo-Addo is putting in place generational legacies that many young people will grow one day to see. That is the type of President we have. How can we even think of (former President) John Mahama, NDC, and Asiedu Nketia pushing this country back again?
“The year 2020 is a clarion call for not only US chapters, but also for all chapters across the world and all those in Ghana, particularly the youth. This election is our election. Akufo-Addo has done all that he can do for us. We must win this election because 2016 means nothing without 2020. We must see the full length of the Akufo-Addo programme and policies,” he stressed.
Alluding to what made him buy into the Akufo-Addo vision, Mr. Karbo revealed, “Those of us who worked very closely with him knew that he had this burning desire, this plan, this dream, that he wanted the Ghanaian people to give him the opportunity to implement … The things he is doing today are things he said in 2008. Many people have forgotten. Akufo-Addo is one of the most consistent politicians I have seen, known or worked with.
“I asked him sometime back in 2007 (when we had 17 people contesting to be flag bearer of the NPP) why he wanted to be President, and his answer alone kept me committed to the cause. He said he never understood why children born in the south of Ghana and those born in the north do not have equal opportunities. That struck me. And it is true. The difference between the time it took to produce a graduate from the north and one from the south was about 100 hundred years.
“Akufo-Addo said all he wanted to do was to bridge the divide between the north and the south. I am from the north, born and bred there, and I know that access to education is a very big problem. Akufo-Addo said the only way to bridge the gap is to declare free senior high school education in Ghana. And today the world is applauding him, because by that singular decision, what we see today is inclusive education. No one left behind,” he indicated.
“For me, that has been the turning point in my young political career having worked with Akufo-Addo, and I am happy that I am seeing with my eyes these policies rolled out by his government. And it is not just political talk. This is a man who means his words, and when he says it, it means he is convinced about a conviction, and he will stick by it,” he added.
The Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who was the guest of honour at the event, outlined a tall list of achievements chalked up by the three-year-old Akufo-Addo government. He, therefore, urged Ghanaians in the diaspora to continue to support the President’s vision of a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’.
Anthony Karbo