Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has reiterated his assurance to the nation that he will not steal a pesewa from the national coffers when he is given the mandate to govern as the president.
As president, Nana Akufo-Addo will also not create the opportunity for the nation-wrecking agenda of ‘create, loot and share’, as witnessed in the GHC51 million Woyome dole-out, to continue in the country.
A vote for him in the December polls, he adds, will therefore mean that the electorate would have elected a president who will jealously guard the public purse and ensure its utilization for the benefit of the masses, as well as someone who will treat all citizens with utmost respect.
Nana Akufo-Addo’s assurance comes at a time President John Dramani Mahama is said to be personally responsible for the decision by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to discontinue the legal processes activated to retrieve the sum of over GHC50 million fraudulently paid to Afred Woyome by the NDC government.
According to Martin Amidu, a former Attorney-General in the NDC government, President Mahama gave the order for the discontinuation of the case as a cover up for key functionaries of his party and government who benefitted from the fraudulent dole-out.
This kind of government-sponsored stealing is among the nation-wrecking activities Nana Akufo-Addo has assured will not be allowed under his presidency.
“I am not coming into office to lord power over the people; neither am I coming into office to use disrespectful language on the people. I will not say to Ghanaians that they have short memories. I am also not coming into office to steal the people’s money to fill my pockets. That’s not why I am seeking your mandate,” he stressed Friday.
The 2016 NPP presidential candidate was addressing hundreds and hundreds of residents at Ateiku, a village in the Wassa East constituency, in the Western Region, on the 1st day of his campaign tour of the region.
Nana Akufo-Addo assured residents of Ateiku, as well the Ghanaian populace: “I am coming into office to use the little wisdom, knowledge and strength the good Lord has given me to help move Ghana forward, so we can create wealth, jobs and prosperity for all Ghanaians.”
He noted that “every nation whose leader has love for the country, is experienced, and is backed by an able team of competent men and women, is a nation which will transform its circumstances and improve on the livelihoods of its citizenry within a relatively short period of time.”
That, the NPP flagbearer stressed, “is what I am offering the good people of Ghana”.
Having announced a programme for the rapid industrialization of the Ghanaian economy: ‘1-District-1-Factory’ policy; ‘1-Village-1-Dam’ policy; the diversification of the country’s agriculture; the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy; and the setting up of an Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), where every constituency will receive the cedi equivalent of $1 million a year to tackle developmental issues, Nana Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians that these policies will be implemented to the latter when he is given the mandate to serve Ghana in the December 7 election.
“These are not election policies. I am not one to make promises I know I cannot keep, all in the hope of getting votes. I have too much love and respect for Ghanaians to make promises which I cannot fulfill. We have though through all these policies very well, and we know it can be done.”
He reiterated: “we in the NPP will not make promises we cannot keep. When we said we were going to implement the NHIS, they (NDC) said it could not be done. However, President Kufuor did it. Likewise, I am telling Ghanaians that Free SHS policy, amongst others, will be truly implemented to the benefit of all.”
With one of the mainstays of residents of Ateiku being the cultivation of cocoa, Nana Akufo-Addo assured that his government, God-willing, from 2017, would institute measures including, the payment of significantly higher producer prices of cocoa above the levels which the NDC administration has provided to farmers in the last 8 years; the reintroduction of bonuses scrapped by the NDC government; and the reintroduction and non-politicisation of the mass spraying exercise and the hi-tech programmes.
Whilst in the region on Friday, the NPP flagbearer visited Mpohor, Shama and Effia constituencies, climaxing his tour on the day with a mini-rally at the Takoradi Polytechnic.