President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was at the weekend acclaimed as the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the December 2020 general elections.
The acclamation, done at a special National Council meeting of the party held at Alisa Hotel in Accra, was in consonance with Article 13 (2) (1) of the NPP’s constitution, which provides for an acclamation when there is a sole candidate for the presidential nomination.
Also, the President, in consultation with the National Council, nominated Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate.
President Akufo-Addo, who would be seeking his second term in office, is going into his fourth consecutive presidential contest since 2008.
Dr Bawumia is also competing on the NPP presidential ticket for the fourth consecutive time with President Akufo-Addo.
Addressing the gathering after his acclamation, the President firmly assured that he would justify the confidence reposed in him by the party by leading it to another decisive victory.
“I will do everything on my part to justify the decision and lead the party to another victory in December…I respect, in all humility, your decision,” President Akufo-Addo told the gathering.
Tasks party
He, however, tasked members of the party to put their shoulders to the wheel, and work hard to help record the desired decisive victory in the elections.
According to the President, this is to ensure that the NPP government keeps the economy on track, and not return it into “the hands of people who will run it into the ground again.”
“In spite of the truly abysmal state in which we found the economy of Ghana in January 2017, we can be proud of what we have been able to achieve in the past three and a half years. We are not there yet; we are not where we want Ghana to be; and we are very much aware of the amount of work that remains to be done.
“We have demonstrated, though, beyond any shadow of doubt, our competence in the management of the national economy, since, without competence, we cannot improve on the welfare of the masses,” he said.
Making particular reference to the Free SHS policy, President Akufo-Addo said many lives are being transformed, with “secondary education no longer the preserve of children whose parents have the means to pay their way. Free TVET means that young people can learn, for free, technical and vocational skills that set them up for life.”
He added: “We have been busy in the delivery of physical infrastructure as well, and I am happy to report that, after just three and a half years in office, I can say, without any fear of contradiction, that every constituency in this country has seen the provision of some basic infrastructure to their communities. In other words, we have not limited the construction and building of infrastructure to the cities, but our towns and villages are seeing development as well, because we do not believe in leaving any community out of the development programme of Ghana”.
Stressing the importance of continuity, he said the NPP needs to win the December election to see the many projects it has embarked upon through to conclusion.
“We dare not leave the many factories coming up, under our 1D1F scheme, to be truncated. We dare not leave the Free SHS to be ‘reviewed’. We dare not leave our roads to go unattended again, only to become part of a ‘Green Book’ propaganda. We dare not jeopardise the digitization schedule on which we have embarked,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Jabs Mahama
He took a swipe at former President Mahama, cautioning him that the presidency is a serious office not one to be used for experiments, ostensibly as a reaction to his second attempt at the presidency after his 2016 defeat.
“We are told that those who were responsible for the worst economic performance of the last 30 years say they have learned their lessons and seek another opportunity to correct their mistakes. Then I ask, should the presidency be used for experiments? Surely not. You the Ghanaian people deserve better and you will get better on 7 December,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He added: “We do not believe in pitting the rich against the poor, or the poor against the rich. We believe in helping every Ghanaian to climb up the ladder of progress, and we have been consistent in this, not just in words, but in deeds,” he said.
Go out and register
The President urged all NPP members and all qualified Ghanaians, “no matter what party they belong to, if any, to go out and register, so that they can exercise their civic responsibilities on 7th December, 2020, to elect a government of their choice in a free, fair, peaceful and transparent election. The pandemic, notwithstanding, we have to strengthen Ghanaian democracy. “
He said the December polls is about issues, including leadership, integrity, performances, records, among others.
“It is about which of the two men you can trust with the future of your children. It is about which of the two leaders you know you can depend on in times of crisis. It is about which of the two leaders you believe can put in motion the necessary measures to revive and strengthen the economy, businesses, and social services, and build our country out of the CORONAVIRUS pandemic,” he stated.
