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“Ghanaians have come
to trust me” – Akufo-Addo
"My own sense is that the Ghanaian people
have come to trust me. Contrary to the
propaganda, they know that I will not put my
ambition and selfish interest before the
wellbeing of the country. They know I have
been sincere and consistent with what I
believe we must do to bring about prosperity
for everyone.”
These were the words of Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, the 2016 Presidential Candidate
of the New Patriotic Party, in response to a
question posed by Dr Alex Vines OBE, Head of
the Africa Programme at Chatham House, the
prestigious Royal Institute of International
Affairs, a major British Think Tank, on
Wednesday, January 21, 2014.
Dr. Vines wanted to find out from Nana
Akufo-Addo why he believed he would be third
time lucky in securing the Presidency, when
the latter addressed a roundtable discussion
on the theme, “Developing Ghana – Policies
for Prosperity”.
Explaining further, with a big smile, why he
believed Ghanaians have come to trust him,
Nana Akufo-Addo said, “When I go around the
country, I sense this and it is like, after
all let us give him a chance for him to show
what he can do."
These final words brought the house down
with claps and laughter at the 90 minute
interaction.
Nana earlier explained that Ghanaians now
have a clearer scale to measure the 8 years
of NDC to the NPP's, adding that Ghanaians
are becoming more and more convinced that
“we in the NPP can be trusted to better
manage the economy and create the
opportunities for prosperity.”
He reassured the invited gathering, composed
of high-level business executives, diplomats
and policy analysts, that his vision of
ensuring “education for all” school going
children remained unshaken, stressing that
the "value of having an educated population
is more than the cost."
The NPP flagbearer added that his
administration will also pay critical
attention to technical education “in this
critical phase of our development” with a
"major emphasis on science and technology,
which will feature heavily."
On the economy, Nana Akufo-Addo said his
government would ensure fiscal discipline
and macroeconomic stability, to curb
inflation, bring down interest rates and
move away from the high fiscal deficits and
reckless borrowing that has characterised
the Mahama government thus far.
Additionally, his government, he said, would
introduce a deliberate policy measure to
achieve financial inclusion by moving the
majority of citizens from cash to electronic
payments (debit cards) for transactions. To
do this well, "we need a national database
that identifies every citizen with an
address," he said.
This, Nana Akufo-Addo said, will assist in
formalising the economy, spread the tax
burden, help government to plan better with
statistics and dramatically increase savings
in the financial system.
Nana Akufo-Addo, also lamented the current
“governance arrangement” in Ghana where
Parliament, he said, is seemingly
subservient to the Executive, calling for a
greater oversight control over the Executive
in the use of public funds.
The overarching question that must be in the
heart of all Ghanaians, he said, “is how we
are going to raise rapidly the quality of
life of the mass of our people.”
On the 2016 election, the NPP flagbearer
stated that there's a national consensus to
enhance the integrity of the electoral
system. He assured that more would be done
to get better and fairer election process.
NanaAkufo Addo
January 22, 2015
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