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Opinions of Thursday, 30 June 2016

Columnist: Chiefy Nduom/ Facebook

Chiefy Nduom writes about 'The Nduoms'

Chiefy Nduom Chiefy Nduom

There's a viral story on whatsapp about how the children of Ghanaian presidential candidates do not support their parents "on the street". It says, "that of Nduom as well all live abroad with a bright future ahead of them...Papa Kwesi Ndoum will not bring their children and blood brothers to the street for campaign"

Hmmm!

The main message of the post is, don't be physically violent in favour of any politician in Ghana. On this point I agree 1,000% Very good point. Excellent! But let me set the record straight on the Nduom Family:

Whomever authored the post, however, does not know Dr.Papa Kwesi Nduom, Yvonne Nduom, Nana Kweku Nduom, Dr. Edjah K. Nduom and myself very well. We all schooled in Ghana for a period of time. Kweku and I have worked professionally in Ghana for years. Our parents instructed us to work in the United States and gain experience. He wanted us to bring serious skills to the table in Ghana. This is a good thing. Bright students without the means to be educated or work abroad should be supported by the Ghanaian government, so long as it also spends to encourage them to invest and/or come back home.

Kweku and I, personally, have raised over $30 million USD in foreign direct investment for business in Ghana. These businesses employ hundreds of people. We are busy raising more for a construction project that will provide hundreds of jobs. He is a financial expert and I am a lawyer. We work very hard to improve lives in Ghana, West Africa at large and the United States, where we are managing a new investment. I am not bragging - we are blessed and want to help others achieve the same.

So yes, thanks to our brilliant parents, we have opportunity that all hardworking Ghanaians should have. That said, it should be 100% clear that we support our father's decades long mission to improve the lives of Ghanaians. This is not just mouth support. We work together as a family. The picture below shows me in 2012 behind my father in Wulensi. Many Ghanaians do not venture to these parts of Ghana - I have been up and down, left and right throughout every single region in Ghana - and not just the major towns. We have been "on the street" following our father for decades, since his first campaign for MP of the KEEA constituency.

Our campaign tours led us to understand the "forgotten Ghana" - the poverty we have felt drives us to work harder and harder to raise funds, invest funds and help develop Ghana and the sub-region in our own small way. This is why we have been huge supporters of GN Bank, helping out wherever we can. It provides jobs in every region and encourages Ghanaians to save. Higher personal savings (at sustainable interest rights - not 'microfinance rates') will allow us to develop our towns and communities without support from any government, local or foreign.

I agree with main message the post on whatsapp. Don't be violent for any politician. I must go one step further though and say don't support any presidential candidate other than Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom.

It is not just because he is my father. This is about facts and common sense! Look, being under an IMF program is not normal. Interest rates above 30% are not normal. We all know what our main problem is. Too many politicians are busy pursuing their personal interests. Our family does not need anything from the Presidency. We have our businesses here and abroad. All we want is to give EVERYONE in Ghana the same level of opportunity. It can be done.

But not if you keep voting NPP and NDC. Ghana needs a cleansing force - a leader who can get the economy on track. There is no candidate more qualified than Dr. Nduom in terms of his public and private track record. The median age in Ghana is 22. We need jobs badly or we will have a huge population of destabilized adults in just 8 years. Can Ghana afford 8 more years of NPP or NDC? NDC will continue what they are doing now. How has it worked for you and your family? NPP will come in with a hungry army of footsoldiers who have been in opposition for too long. How will they reward them? With your taxpayer money? Who will keep NDC and NPP honest? The Judiciary???

Thankfully our candidate is immune to the rot of corruption. He needs nothing from government - this is pure public service. I know him very well and he is truly a genius. If I were selfish I would campaign to get him to stop politics because I know what his keen business mind could do without worrying about Ghana's problems! This alone is worth the vote of the educated Ghanaian.

My last point. A lot of Ghanaians are worrying about "wasting" their vote. Let me be plain and pragmatic. Even Dr. Nduom does not win, the more votes he gets the more leverage we have. By we, I mean those of us fortunate enough to be using the internet right now. Those of us with sustainable jobs, opportunity. If you support anti-corruption efforts, non-partisan movements like ?#?occupyghana?, if you support the Church, indigenous business associations - if you are an active, civic minded Ghanaian, you must vote for Dr. Nduom.

These votes will give us the leverage to ensure that whomever eventually comes to power (in the event that Dr. Nduom does not win) can push through critical changes to our constitution to make Ghana more friendly to local Ghanaian businesses that provide the JOBS we desperately need, root out corruption systemically and get our economy back on track. We can push to ensure that this happens if we get even 3% of the vote. We are already polling at 5% - it is up to you to push that number of to 50.

Anything is possible in the age of Donald Trump and ?#?Brexit? - but we in Ghana can shock the world in the positive way by electing the pragmatic "best president Ghana will "never" have." The Nduoms never say never. This is serious people. We have 8 years. 8 years before the millions of people aged 15-24 become full adults. If we don't provide more jobs for our youth, no oil, gas, gold or cocoa prices will save us from the coming instability, violence and social malaise. We know how to get people working. Give us the chance.

Join us on our mission for all Ghanaians. All you have to do is vote Nduom & PPP in Ghana. On this point I agree 1,000% Very good point. Excellent! But let me set the record straight on the Nduom Family:

Whomever authored the post, however, does not know Dr.Papa Kwesi Nduom, Yvonne Nduom, Nana Kweku Nduom, Dr. Edjah K. Nduom and myself very well. We all schooled in Ghana for a period of time. Kweku and I have worked professionally in Ghana for years. Our parents instructed us to work in the United States and gain experience. He wanted us to bring serious skills to the table in Ghana. This is a good thing. Bright students without the means to be educated or work abroad should be supported by the Ghanaian government, so long as it also spends to encourage them to invest and/or come back home.

Kweku and I, personally, have raised over $30 million USD in foreign direct investment for business in Ghana. These businesses employ hundreds of people. We are busy raising more for a construction project that will provide hundreds of jobs. He is a financial expert and I am a lawyer. We work very hard to improve lives in Ghana, West Africa at large and the United States, where we are managing a new investment. I am not bragging - we are blessed and want to help others achieve the same.

So yes, thanks to our brilliant parents, we have opportunity that all hardworking Ghanaians should have. That said, it should be 100% clear that we support our father's decades long mission to improve the lives of Ghanaians. This is not just mouth support. We work together as a family. The picture below shows me in 2012 behind my father in Wulensi. Many Ghanaians do not venture to these parts of Ghana - I have been up and down, left and right throughout every single region in Ghana - and not just the major towns. We have been "on the street" following our father for decades, since his first campaign for MP of the KEEA constituency.

Our campaign tours led us to understand the "forgotten Ghana" - the poverty we have felt drives us to work harder and harder to raise funds, invest funds and help develop Ghana and the sub-region in our own small way. This is why we have been huge supporters of GN Bank, helping out wherever we can. It provides jobs in every region and encourages Ghanaians to save. Higher personal savings (at sustainable interest rights - not 'microfinance rates') will allow us to develop our towns and communities without support from any government, local or foreign.

I agree with main message the post on whatsapp. Don't be violent for any politician. I must go one step further though and say don't support any presidential candidate other than Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom. It is not just because he is my father. This is about facts and common sense! Look, being under an IMF program is not normal. Interest rates above 30% are not normal. We all know what our main problem is. To many politicians are busy pursuing their personal interests. Our family does not need anything from the Presidency. We have our businesses here and abroad. All we want is to give EVERYONE in Ghana the same level of opportunity. It can be done.

But not if you keep voting NPP and NDC. Ghana needs a cleansing force - a leader who can get the economy on track. There is no candidate more qualified than Dr. Nduom in terms of his public and private track record. The median age in Ghana is 22. We need jobs badly or we will have a huge population of destabilized adults in just 8 years. Can Ghana afford 8 more years of NPP or NDC? NDC will continue what they are doing now. How has it worked for you and your family? NPP will come in with a hungry army of footsoldiers who have been in opposition for too long. How will they reward them? With your taxpayer money? Who will keep NDC and NPP honest? The Judiciary???

Thankfully our candidate is immune to the rot of corruption. He needs nothing from government - this is pure public service. I know him very well and he is truly a genius. If I were selfish I would campaign to get him to stop politics because I know what his keen business mind could do without worrying about Ghana's problems! This alone is worth the vote of the educated Ghanaian.

My last point. A lot of Ghanaians are worrying about "wasting" their vote. Let me be plain and pragmatic. Even Dr. Nduom does not win, the more votes he gets the more leverage we have. By we, I mean those of us fortunate enough to be using the internet right now. Those of us with sustainable jobs, opportunity. If you support anti-corruption efforts, non-partisan movements like ?#?occupyghana?, if you support the Church, indigenous business associations - if you are an active, civic minded Ghanaian, you must vote for Dr. Nduom.

These votes will give us the leverage to ensure that whomever eventually comes to power (in the event that Dr. Nduom does not win) can push through critical changes to our constitution to make Ghana more friendly to local Ghanaian businesses that provide the JOBS we desperately need, root out corruption systemically and get our economy back on track. We can push to ensure that this happens if we get even 3% of the vote. We are already polling at 5% - it is up to you to push that number of to 50.

Anything is possible in the age of Donald Trump and ?#?Brexit? - but we in Ghana can shock the world in the positive way by electing the pragmatic "best president Ghana will "never" have." The Nduoms never say never. This is serious people. We have 8 years. 8 years before the millions of people aged 15-24 become full adults. If we don't provide more jobs for our youth, no oil, gas, gold or cocoa prices will save us from the coming instability, violence and social malaise. We know how to get people working. Give us the chance.

Join us on our mission for all Ghanaians. All you have to do is vote Nduom & PPP