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THE NPP WAY FOR THE GHANAIAN ECONOMY
BY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO
The NPP seeks to create a political economy consistent with
basic individual liberties; provide substantially equal
opportunities to all citizens; tackle inequalities but not
by a centralised state socialism but by a private sector led
economy that is allowed to create wealth and the tax
revenues that the state can accrue from such free
entrepreneurships shall be then invested in the social
sectors to create greater opportunities for the lesser well
offs.
What we need is a political economy that serves our people,
by building a strong bridge from the times when big
government did everything to a future when people are
entrusted with self-governance. We need to follow the wisdom
of our forefathers: Danquah believed that the Ghanaian was
capable of managing what the socialists called at the time,
‘the commanding heights’ of the economy. We must be bold and
intelligent in making this happen. To do so, we should not
be shy of introducing policies that look, first and
foremost, after our own people at every level of our
economy.
We must pursue a proactive but pragmatic agenda by picking,
stimulating and increasing the number of Ghanaian winners in
all sectors and build champions of industry who can compete
anywhere in the world. We do so not by turning our backs on
the process of globalisation, but by making use of its rules
and regulations in such a way as to enhance our capability
and capacity. We should be bold and devise and push an
agenda that gets people out of the cycle of subsistence
wages and informal, ad hoc economic activities, into the
formal sector. We must rebuild the confidence of the
Ghanaian entrepreneur. We must not shy away from picking
local winners and supporting them deliberately to become
regional and continental winners.
We need to mould our economic system to our particular
instincts for individual freedom and social justice. Thus,
since my election on August 7, 2010, I have put together a
Policy Unit, headed by Albert Osei (a retired senior World
bank official) and a Manifesto Committee headed by Prof Yaw
Twumasi (distinguished political scientist), who are
consulting with various stakeholders to ensure that, with
God’s blessing, we win power in 2012, ready for office.
We want to come to office not with PROMISES but with
PROGRAMMES. Programmes that address the little things that
matter to Ghanaians in their communities, like safe
neighbourhoods, clean gutters, hygienic food, streets with
names, flowing tap water, reducing road traffic, and making
sure that rules and regulations are obeyed. Programmes that
address the fundamental issues of our time, the urgent need
to tackle widespread youth unemployment, good skills, good
jobs and good pay, industrialised economy, modernised
agriculture, a modern, integrated public transport system
that links every corner of our nation and our country to our
neighbours. Programmes that will enhance the quality of
life, like universal access to quality education and quality
healthcare. What the people need are programmes that will
establish a public sector that serves them with efficiency,
respect and at value for money.
The mission of the NPP is straightforward and simple: we
mean to create a future Ghana that will provide a model of
progress for the rest of Africa and the world. Our job as
politicians is to ensure that the state provides the people
with a quality environment of law and order, physical
infrastructure, social services, sensitivity and quick
responsiveness to needs, and a regulatory environment that
allows free and fair competition. These are policies that
make lives better. These are policies that underpin the
NPP’s vision of development.
As leader of the NPP, I remain guided by the values of the
Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, its history and its promise
and the examples of our great leaders who have gone before
me, from Joseph Boakye Danquah, Simon Dombo, Kofi Abrefa
Busia, Victor Owusu, William Ofori-Atta, and Albert Adu
Boahen to John Agyekum Kufuor. Amongst these values are:
• an unwavering commitment to and promotion of fundamental
freedoms and human rights
• an abiding faith in multi-party democracy
• a deep attachment to the Rule of Law
• the maintenance of Law and Order
• the proactive development of a market economy and
individual enterprise and creativity
• the economic empowerment of the Ghanaian
• the recognition of each of us being the other’s keeper
• the provision of a strong social safety net for the
elderly, vulnerable and needy in society
• a strong advocacy of individual responsibility and self
discipline
• a preparedness to sacrifice for community, country and
continent
• an unyielding belief in the can-do spirit of the Ghanaian
• and, finally, a leadership constantly guided by faith in
God.
We need to intensify our efforts in pursuing a development
agenda that is broad-based, inclusive and sustainable to
extend social justice to everyone, whether an urban or rural
dweller. Thankfully, the NPP, in the 8 years of President J
A Kufuor, showed through our policies in education, health,
youth employment, small loan schemes, to name a few, that we
fully subscribe to the notion that government has a
responsibility to provide all its citizens with skills and
opportunities to create their own wealth. Let me repeat, the
ultimate test for our democracy is winning the enduring war
against Africa’s old enemy -- mass poverty. I believe we can
only win this war by building a New Society of
Opportunities.
This New Society of Opportunities is what can realise the
dream of the founding fathers that all Ghanaians shall have
a right and duty to engage in, contribute to and profit from
the country’s economic growth and wealth. Hence, we see it
as the fundamental duty of government to create an
environment that allows the individual to use that talent
positively for the benefit of him- or herself, his or her
family and society, at large. A critical element of that
environment is the systematic encouragement by government of
the culture and spirit of enterprise in all its citizens.
A new society of opportunities, as we envisage, means
establishing a system of governance that provides the very
best of public services for every citizen, including an
effective, humane public healthcare system, access to a
secure and reliable justice system and unfettered access by
all and sundry to a quality education in Ghana that rivals
any in the world. It means also a governance system that
helps unleash the energies of its citizens so that
enterprise is appreciated and duly rewarded, not vilified
and made the object of envy.
After more than thirty years in frontline politics, the more
I travel around the country canvassing for votes, the more I
see the urgency in waging and winning the war against
poverty. So far, we have not been able to win the war
against poverty because we have been using the same
ineffective weapons of old. The only way forward is to be
deliberate and determined in the pre-independence dream of
transforming Ghana from a Guggisberg economy to a modern
economy of added value. We must free ourselves from the
economic arrangements designed by our former colonial
masters to serve their particular purpose at the time.
I am determined to make my leadership of Ghana the period
that our economy is transformed from an exporter of raw
materials and retailer of cheap imported goods to a modern,
self-sufficient, surplus-producing industrialised one. I see
the recent petroleum find as offering as the perfect
opportunity to create here in Ghana a petrochemical
industry, including monetising our gas to create a
multibillion dollar gas feedstock industry. We have the
opportunity to make Ghana a regional centre for light
manufacturing industry, by weaving together our numerous
natural resources, like food produce, bauxite, iron ore, oil
and gas, with our talents and energy to turn our nation into
an economic powerhouse in Africa.
It means intensifying radically our efforts in pursuing the
transformation and modernisation of our national economy, so
that it could create jobs and prosperity for the broad mass
of our people on the basis of social justice, the rule of
law, respect for human rights, the principles of democratic
accountability, and individual liberty and enterprise. This
is the new paradigm of human development to which our
generation is summoned.
However, the task ahead is more than just creating jobs. It
is also about building a competitive economy with a
competitive work force. As I see it, the task is also to get
Ghana thinking… thinking out of the box… thinking big…and
thinking deeply about the little things we do or don’t do
that hold us back. We need to put the nation back on the
path of a brighter future. We need to bring back competence,
strong, decisive and compassionate leadership. We need to
restore hope and the confidence of the Ghanaian. We can only
do so by working together, intelligently and courageously.
We must be proud of what we have achieved, as a party, since
the traumatic loss in the 2008 elections. The successful
process of reflection and rebuilding from 2009 to date has
been unprecedented in the annals of Africa’s democracy. The
constitutional arrangements of 2009 which have led to
significant expansion of our electoral colleges to involve
the grassroots in the selection of the party’s leadership
are a major testimony of our party’s true democratic
credentials. Ours is a party that is ready and prepared to
respond to concerns, challenges and opportunities.
Last August, it took over 107,000 people, mostly from the
grassroots, to choose our 2012 presidential candidate. Last
month, it took more than four times the previous number to
choose our parliamentary candidates. We have, through this
process, built a solid foundation for unity for the 2012
general elections. We have reflected and we have rebuilt.
The next task is to recapture. Let us make sure all hands
are on deck and Ghanaians, by the grace of God, shall reward
our posture of readiness to lead and serve them with
distinction. This requires dedication, determination and
discipline.
Those of us in this room hold the key to our nation’s
future, if we are smart and win the 2012 elections. Let us
work hard in unity, to ensure that that future is one of
peace, progress and prosperity. Then history will be kind to
us.
Thank you.
THE ABOVE ARE EXCERPTS FROM A SPEECH, ‘THE NPP STORY AND OUR
VISION FOR 2012’, DELIVERED BY NANA AKUFO-ADDO, 2012
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, AT SEMINAR FOR PARLIAMENTARY
CANDIDATES, SPOKESPERSONS AND NATIONAL EXECUTIVES, 23RD MAY,
2011, ALISA HOTEL, NORTH RIDGE, ACCRA
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