Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 elections, Nana Akufo-Addo, stormed the fishing settlement of Yeji in the Brong-Ahafo Region in a fashion akin to the triumphant entry in the Scriptures, offering the fisher-folk an opportunity to pour their hearts out.
For him, it was a rare eye-opener to witness at firsthand the challenges being faced by inland fishermen as they dramatically displayed yellow containers dubbed �Kufuor gallons�.
They had been in long queues for days on end in an attempt to buy premix fuel to power their canoes.
His arrival therefore enabled them to explain to him, rather dramatically, their plight�a situation exacerbated by the current economic woes of the country.
It was day two of the final phase of his campaign ahead of the October 18 polls of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to pick a flagbearer among three contenders.
He had earlier visited Pru East, Pru West and Atebubu Amantin constituencies, all in the same region.
Visibly frustrated at their inability to undertake their core business activities, which predominantly require the use of premix fuel, residents of Yeji told Nana Addo that economic activity had slowed down due to the shortage, resulting largely in increasing hardship.
Apart from the shortage of premix fuel, fisher-folk told Nana Akufo-Addo about the exorbitant prices they have to pay for the commodity as and when it becomes available, with a gallon of premix selling at between GH�12 and GH�15 as opposed to the ex-pump price of GH�6.
Addressing the 392 delegates, made up of 360 polling station executives, 16 electoral area co-ordinators, and 16 constituency executives, Nana Akufo-Addo expressed deep worry about the mess the country had plunged into under President John Mahama.
According to Nana Addo, Ghana, a country blessed with abundant human and natural resources, should not be in this current predicament, adding that �everything John Mahama and this government touches turns into dust.�
He noted that prior to the exit of the Kufuor-led NPP government in January 2009, a gallon of premix sold at GH�1.79, explaining that the blame for the shortage of premix and its attendant price hikes should be placed solely at the doorstep of the NDC government, because �it is bad governance that has gotten us this far.�
�Businesses are collapsing, our educational system is in disarray. When someone is sick, it becomes a heart-wrenching issue, because our healthcare system is in a mess. This is not the Ghana we all want,� he stated.
The beauty of multiparty democracy, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, is that it presents the Ghanaian electorate with the opportunity, through the thumb, to vote out peacefully �this non-performing Mahama government and replace it with a competent NPP government� led by Nana Akufo-Addo come December 6, 2016.
A government under his leadership, Nana Addo explained, would ensure the rapid industrialisation of the Ghanaian economy and move this nation from a producer and exporter of raw materials to an economy that would add value to the country�s raw materials.
This, he said, is the surest way of creating the hundreds of thousands of jobs needed for the growing masses of unemployed youth.
To restore Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity, Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to the delegates to vote massively for him to send a clear message to Ghanaians that the party is focused, united behind its candidate and ready to wrest political power from the NDC government.
Pru West Promises Vote Increase
Nana Akufo-Addo�s next point of call was Prang, in the Pru West constituency.
There, he was given assurance of a massive increment in the votes he received in the 2010 primary from the constituency.
Pru, it will be recalled, gave Nana Akufo-Addo a 55% margin of victory in the 2010 presidential primary, with the Pru West constituency Chairman, K.K. Kwarteng, assuring Nana Akufo-Addo that Pru West would emerge as one of the highest contributors of votes to Nana Akufo-Addo in the October 18 presidential primary.
�If they (NDC) had persons of the calibre of Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia in their midst, there is no way they would have held a presidential primary to elect a flagbearer, and in turn, a running mate,� Chairman Kwarteng said, to a thunderous applause from the delegates.
Atebubu Amantin Follows Suit
The delegates of Atebubu Amantin constituency, through their Chairman, Mr Edward Owusu, promised to better the 67% margin of victory they gave Akufo-Addo in the 2010 presidential primary.
Mr Edward Owusu, together with all the 712 delegates, assured Nana Addo of nothing less than a 95% margin of victory.
Addressing the delegates, Brong-Ahafo Regional Youth Organiser, Mr Michael Osei Boateng, admonished them to disregard calls in certain quarters to change Nana Akufo-Addo in favour of another presidential candidate.
�Even President Mahama is backing 72-year-old Alassane Ouattara to lead Cote d�Ivoire for a second term. Why then do we hear NDC supporters and some NPP members saying we should change Akufo-Addo who is 70 years old? Akufo-Addo has proven to be a visionary leader, and that is why the NDC has resorted to stealing his programmes like the free senior high school policy and the Northern Development Authority which they re-named SADA,� Mr Osei Boateng added.
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