The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that he has no interest in accepting Ford Expedition SUVs as gifts but to execute his task to the benefit of the country if voted as president.

He explained that the award of contracts would be done by competitive tendering, and not sole sourcing which has been the norm and method for the award of contracts under the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

“We are going to find the contractor by a process of competitive bidding. We are not going to go into a room and sit down with one person and say: ‘Yes (you have the contract)’. I have no interest in Cadillacs or Fords or whatever. We want to do a job for Ghana, a good job for that matter,” he said.

Having visited Hamile, in the Lambussie constituency, prior to his tour of Nandom, on Saturday, September 3, 2016, on the first day of his two-day tour of the Upper West Region, Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the first road one drives on, upon entering Ghana from Burkina Faso, is the road from Hamile to Nandom, which leads further down south. This road, he stated, was in a deplorable condition, having driven on them on his way to Hamile.

“This is not the road Ghana should be introducing to people from Burkina Faso. This dirt road? We are going to do something about it, take it from me. People should have a better impression of our country than this road,” he added.

The NPP flagbearer assured residents that his government would also ensure that the link road from Hamile to Nandom and further down into the Upper West Region is constructed.

The issue of a Ford Expedition has been a topic for discussion after it emerged that President John Mahama accepted one of such SUVs as gift from a Burkinabe contractor.

The Minority in parliament had filed a motion to have the president investigated for misconduct and ascertain if it influenced the award of contracts to the Burkinabe donor, Mr Djibril Kanazoe, to execute.

A statement from Communication Minister Edward Boamah had confirmed that the car was accepted and added to the pool of vehicles at the presidency.

However, Speaker of Parliament Edward Doe Adjaho threw out the motion of inquiry filed by Minority legislators on Thursday, 1 September, explaining that the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), a constitutional body, was already investigating the case.

In dismissing the motion, Mr Adjaho told the house: “After a careful study of the correspondence from CHRAJ, I have come to the conclusion that the matter is not different in material, in particular from the matter under investigation by CHRAJ.”

Nana Akufo-Addo further urged residents of Nandom to vote for the NPP’s candidate for the constituency, Ambrose Dery, stressing: “The change that is blowing across the entire country has to embrace one of the best men you have in the politics of the Upper West.”

Mr Dery, the NPP flagbearer added, “was a brilliant minister from the Upper West Region”.

“He was a brilliant Regional Minister, and I have no doubt that he is going to be a brilliant Minister in Akufo-Addo’s cabinet,” he expressed.

In concluding, the NPP flagbearer appealed to residents of the Upper West Region to restore their links with the NPP, explaining that the Region is where some of the important leaders of the NPP’s political tradition hailed from.

“Their names are written in gold in the history of Ghana – S.D. Dombo, B.K. Adama, Jato Kaleo, Mumuni Dimbie, Abaayifa Karbo. These are the names of the men who got up to fight for freedom for our country, at great personal cost, to build Ghana’s democracy. They are turning in their graves knowing that, today, we don’t have a political presence in the Upper West. I am pleading with you. This election, let us restore the NPP to its heritage and connect it to the people who built that heritage.”