Former President John Agyekum Kufuor yesterday led the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to pay homage to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Asanteman Council at the Manhyia palace in Kumasi.
The visit forms part of Nana Akufo-Addo’s tour of the Ashanti Region.
The NPP leader, who is on a five-day tour of the region, visited the Manhyia Palace, the official seat of the Asantehene, to seek the Asante King’s blessing and support.
President Kufuor insisted that the government, which he presided over for eight years, was the best in the political history of Ghana.
He recounted the numerous social intervention programmes, which were introduced by his government to transform the lives of the people, noting that he did extraordinary works as president for Ghana.
“Let the truth be told, the NPP government’s eight years, which I led, is the best in the history of our country since we attained independence as a country about six decades ago,” he pointed out.
Mr. Kufuor was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of Asanteman at the palace yesterday, which saw the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, sitting in state.
Hardships
Mr. Kufuor expressed sorrow over how the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, through bad policies and programmes, has destroyed all the better social intervention programmes that his government instituted to improve the lives of the masses.
He observed that severe economic hardships have been the order of the day in the country since the NDC government took over the governance of the country eight years ago.
President Kufuor said Nana Akufo-Addo played instrumental role in the success story of his government, stressing that the NPP leader is competent.
He, therefore, appealed to the electorate to vote massively for Nana Akufo-Addo in the forthcoming elections so that he would properly steer the affairs of the country to ensure improvement in the lives of the citizenry.
Mr. Kufuor noted that Nana Addo’s government would solve all the current problems that are facing the country, stressing the need for Ghanaians to return the NPP to political power.
Jabs NDC
The ex-Ghanaian leader stated that the NPP is a serious political party which doesn’t believe in politics of propaganda and blatant lies as the NDC usually does, saying that the NDC should be ousted from political office.
According to Mr. Kufuor, whilst the NDC engages in politics of propaganda and falsehoods, the NPP always dedicates much of its time to analyzing and thinking about what it can do to bring development to the country for the people to enjoy meaningful lives.
I’ll Solve Dumsor
Addressing the gathering, Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the energy crisis, also known as dumsor, will be a thing of the past if he is elected as president in November.
He said the NDC government, led by President John Mahama, seems overwhelmed by the energy crisis, which has lasted for over four years now and collapsing businesses.
Nana Addo noted that President Mahama had persistently given countless empty promises to solve the dumsor, but the menace still persists, which has heightened the sorry economic plight of the people.
Nana Addo, former Foreign Affairs Minister, gave the assurance that the NPP would find swift and lasting solution to the energy crisis, which the NDC government has failed woefully to solve.
Danger
Nana Akufo-Addo warned that the high rate of unemployment, especially among the youth, poses great danger to the security of the state, stressing that the issue needed to be addressed.
He said the NDC government has proven during the last eight years that it cannot provide jobs for the people, saying that the country needs the NPP back in political office to create jobs for the citizenry.
Businesses Collapse
According to him, nothing seems to be working for Ghana under the NDC administration, indicating that Anglogold Ashanti, timber firms and other organizations that in the past provided jobs for the masses had all collapsed.
He also bemoaned the collapse of the several social intervention programmes that the NPP government introduced such as the NHIS, school feeding programme, free maternal care, to mention but a few.
