Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2012 presidential elections, dropped his guard last Saturday, when he exposed his desperation to lead this country, suggesting that his quest for the highest office of the land is for parochial reasons.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Democratic Union of Africa (DUA) in Accra on Saturday, Nana Akufo-Addo said that after having “tasted the painful experience of losing an election by the slimmest of margins in Africa’s history”, is about time Ghanaians gave him the chance to “taste some success”.

Realizing that he had let the cat out of the bag, Nana Akufo-Addo smartly added that the “success that we seek is not of a personal or partisan kind. We seek to succeed in the all-important push of creating a free and fair society of opportunities and prosperity in Africa for every African”.

In the 2008 elections, Nana Akufo-Addo won the first round of the ballot by 100,000 votes, but failed to get the 50 plus 1 per cent of the votes in order to be declared as the winner.

A round-off saw him losing 40,000 votes to the late President John Evans Atta Mills, making his lifelong adventure of becoming President of Ghana a more tedious enterprise.

In desperation, having successfully secured his party’s mandate to lead it in the 2012 elections, Akufo-Addo urged party faithful in Koforidua, during his ‘THANK YOU TOUR’, to be earnestly committed to ensuring that he achieved his dream of attaining the presidency, this time round, since it will be his last opportunity.

The almost septuagenarian psyched his party men up, to put their lives on the line for him to become president at all cost, by adopting the mental attitude of “all-die-be-die”, which will make them invincible to the challenge. This call drew serious bruising both at home and abroad as it was seen to be very inciteful, but Akufo-Addo did not apologize.

Nana Addo at the DUA conference said he and the NPP were going into the December elections with a radical agenda to redefine education.

A statement from the NPP Communications Directorate quotes him as saying “we are redefining basic education, which is the education that the state is obliged to give every child, to start from kindergarten and end at Senior High School.

If you listen to some of the discussions in the country, you will hear that our opponents are claiming that we cannot do it, they call it a mission impossible, they say it is too expensive and Ghana cannot afford it.”

According to Nana Akufo-Addo, in this 21st century, it is unacceptable for Ghanaian children to be left with junior high school level education and expect them to be able to compete successfully in the global economy.

“The next NPP government will do what is right by the youth of Ghana. I hesitate to prescribe policy initiatives for other countries, but, on the matter of education, I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending that all African countries adopt the policy of free compulsory education from kindergarten to senior high school.

This is one of the most important things we have to do if we are to make the transformation from our current state to prosperity,” said he.

He added that, “It is a deliberate decision we have made and we have looked carefully at the figures and we know it can be done. We need to have an educated and trained workforce to be able to run the modern economy that Ghana will soon become. If God willing, we win the elections, we shall implement this policy rapidly.”

Nana Akufo-Addo also spoke of the NPP’s philosophy, which is the centre right philosophy.

According to him, “it has always been the champion of democracy. It has been the philosophy of freedom. It has been the philosophy of the free market. It has been the philosophy of creating opportunities for people.”

Though much of Africa has embraced democracy as the model that promotes opportunity, freedom and growth, Nana Akufo-Addo however said, “Sustaining democracy cannot be done with just the vigilance of avowed democrats like us.”

“We cannot help democratic sustenance by just being a union of opposition parties and shouting ourselves hoarse about how our countries are being run by half hearted democrats. To sustain democracy, we must get into power and help in the economic transformation of our countries. Now, there is no longer an argument about whether or not there is a relationship between democracy and economic development. So to deliver prosperity to our people, as Dr. Danquah and our forebears envisaged, we must win the hearts and minds of our people. We must convince our people that centre-right policies are the best that can create the societies of opportunities that we ought to create in Africa in order to raise rapidly the living standards of our people.”

Mrs. Philippa Broom, who is the International Secretary of the Conservative Party (UK), applauded the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for its commitment to democratic principles and the well-being of Ghanaians.

She reiterated Nana Akufo-Addo’s commitment to enhance Ghana’s democracy, rule of law and accountability, adding that, Nana Addo’s life and work reflect on the democracy that has made Ghana a shining star on the continent.

It is my wish, Mrs. Broom said, that Ghana will see a Centre-Right party back in power to enhance economic transformation.

Mr. Eirik Moen, Secretary General of International Democratic Union, (IDU) congratulated the NPP for winning the 2000 and 2004 elections, and also praised the party for fully cooperating in the 2008 transition, though the party lost by a slim margin.

He urged other developing countries to emulate Ghana’s democratic achievements. Mr. Moen was optimistic that Ghana will once again go through the December 7 Polls as a peaceful and united country.

The DUA Meeting was hosted by the NPP from the Friday 14 to Sunday 16, September 2012 in Accra, with Nana Akufo-Addo as the special guest of honour. The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘ Sustaining Democracy and Economic Development in Africa -The Center-Right Way’.

The meeting was sponsored by the Conservative Party UK.

At the time of going to press, ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor, was expected to grace the meeting.