President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the Overlord of Gonjaland, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I, that he is going to work closely with him over the course of his tenure in office so as to help bring progress and prosperity to the people of Gonjaland.

President-Elect Akufo-Addo made this known on Friday, December 23, 2016, when he paid a courtesy call on the Yagbonwura and Chiefs of Gonjaland, at the Jakpa Palace, Damongo.

Nana Akufo-Addo, who is on a 3-day ‘Thank You Tour’ of the 3 Northern Regions and the Brong Ahafo Region, told the Yagbonwura that “we came here today to thank you, and to reassure you and to let you know that we are going to work very closely with you to improve the governance of Ghana. I am going to need your constant advice and guidance.”

It will be recalled that, on August 30, 2016, Nana Akufo-Addo, then NPP presidential candidate, visited the Yagbonwura at the Jakpa palace, to elicit his support and prayers for him and for the NPP ahead of the conduct of the December 7 elections.

“God listened to your prayers and on the 9th of December, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, declared me winner in the presidential election, and the NPP victors in the parliamentary elections. I came here today to thank you very much,” the President-Elect said.

Nana Akufo-Addo told the Yagbonwura that, even though he has lost one son, in the person of President Mahama, “you have another in his place. So you have lost nothing, as some of your children are going to be working closely with me – Otiko Afisa Djaba, Samuel Abu Jinapor and Clifford Braimah, amongst others – so you will have your grandchildren all around me.”

He further assured the Yagbonwura that, “My doors will always be open to you. Where I am going, I will need your support and continuing prayers, and to assure you that all the commitments I made to the Ghanaian people during my campaign, with the help of the Almighty, I am going to fulfil all of them.”

The President-Elect also used the opportunity to thank the Kpembewura, Babanye Ndefosu II, who was present at the Jakpa Palace, for his prediction on September 2, 2016, where he told Nana Akufo-Addo that he was going to win the 2016 election by a margin of 53%.

“He (Kpembewura) was like a soothsayer, the one who was able to see into the future and he is the one who predicted that I would get 53 point something percent of the vote. So I want to thank you for the Kpembewura, my old friend Bismark,” Akufo-Addo said, to a rapturous applause from the gathering at the Jakpa Palace.

Nana Akufo-Addo, in concluding, noted that before the conduct of this year’s election, “we had no seats in Gonjaland. But today we have one in Salaga South, and everywhere in Gonjaland, my vote went up. So I came to thank you for that as well.”

On behalf of the Yagbonwura, the Kpembewura, Babanye Ndefosu II, assured President-Elect Akufo-Addo that “we are going to give you the necessary and whole support of Gonjas. You told us you are not going to turn your back on Gonjas, and, for that matter all Gonja’s sitting here and elsewhere are going to give you their full support. We hope you will deliver for the people of Ghana, and in the first 4 years (of your tenure) the people of Ghana will see that we have a good government in place.