The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party has said the economy is in a dire situation to the extent that Ghanaians are naturally not happy.

Nana Akufo-Addo stated the seven-year tenure of the NDC government has been characterised by economic hardships, despondency, rising cost of living, widespread corruption and rising unemployment.

“You don’t see many smiling faces in Ghana today because the economy has gone down, and the circumstances of our country today are bad,” the three-time presidential candidate of the main opposition party said to round up his ‘Rise and Build’ tour in northern Ghana.

“Farmers can’t afford their fertilizer, so the output from our farms, year after year, continue to decline under the NDC. Businesses are folding up because the private sector no longer has the confidence to be able to invest and expand businesses. Enterprises are folding up and closing.

“The young people of our country don’t get any work to do. Every place you go to, you see hundreds and hundreds of young people standing idle and doing nothing. It is dangerous for the people of our country. Our health system is down, we are virtually back to the days of cash and carry, schools have opened and half of the classroom is empty because parents can’t find the money to pay the fees of their wards,” Nana Addo stressed.

In view of this Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering, made up of regional and constituency executives, as well as all newly elected parliamentary candidates and their competitors from six constituencies in the region, that Ghana must work again. The constituencies were Bawku Central, Pusiga, Zebila, Bunduri, Garu and Tempane.

The only people who can put back the smile on the faces of Ghanaians, he said, are members of the New Patriotic Party.

“We are the only people capable of doing it, and mobilising the people to build our country once again. That is why I have called this tour the rise and build tour. If we get the victory, we know what to do. President Kufuor showed this country what can be done by purposeful leadership. He took Ghana out of a HIPC state into a Middle Income Country. We will build on his achievements, expand it and bring the prosperity that the people of Ghana deserve,” he added.

He continued, “What I am asking the Ghanaian people is an opportunity to do that for Ghana. I am saying to the people, have confidence in me, I am not going to go there to steal your money. The resources of Ghana are going to be safe in my hands. I want to use them to the benefit of the people of this country.”

He was accompanied by the National Women’s Organiser, Otiko Afisa Djaba; former Minister of Trade and Industry, and former MP for Offinso North, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku; former Minister of State under President Kufuor, Elizabeth Ohene; Political Assistant, Francis Asenso-Boakye; Press Secretary, Eugene Arhin; Campaign Aides, Iddrisu Musah ‘Superior’ and Pius Hadzide; together with regional stalwarts like Alhassan Samari, former Upper East Regional Minister and parliamentary candidate for Garu; Dr. Gyesika Agambila, a former Deputy Minister of Finance; and NPP Upper East Chairman, Murtala Mohammed.

Nana Akufo-Addo has since left for the Northern regional capital, Tamale, to begin his two-day tour of the region.