General News of Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Source: The Chronicle

NDC is killing our business - fishermen tell Akufo-Addo

Day two of the final phase of Nana Akufo-Addo’s campaign ahead of the October 18 presidential primary of the New Patriotic Party saw him visit the Pru East, Pru West and Atebubu Amantin constituencies of the Brong Ahafo Region, on Monday, October 6, 2014.

Nana Addo, prior to interacting with delegates in the Pru East Constituency visited Yeji harbour, where he witnessed at first hand the plight of fishermen and boat owners who had queued for days with “Kufuor gallons” and drums in search of premix fuel.

Visibly frustrated at their inability to undertake their core business activities which predominantly require the use of premix fuel, residents of Yeji told Nana Addo that economic activity had slowed down due to the fuel shortage, resulting largely in increasing hardships amongst the residents.

Apart from the shortage of premix fuel, the fisherfolk told Nana Akufo-Addo about the exorbitant prices they have to pay for the commodity as and when it becomes available, with a gallon of premix fuel selling at between GH¢12 and GH¢15, as opposed to the ex-pump price of GH¢6.

Addressing the 392 delegates, made up of 360 polling station executives, 16 electoral area co-ordinators, and 16 constituency executives, Nana Akufo-Addo expressed deep worry about the mess the country has been plunged into under President John Mahama.

According to Nana Addo, Ghana, a country blessed with abundant human and natural resources, should not be in this current predicament, adding that “everything John Mahama and this government touches turns into dust.”

He noted that prior to the exiting of the President John Kufuor’s NPP government in January 2009, a gallon of premix sold at GH¢1.79, explaining that the shortage of premix and its attendant price hikes should be placed solely at the doorstep of the NDC government, adding that “it is bad governance that has gotten us this far.”

“Businesses are collapsing and our educational system is in disarray. When someone is sick, it becomes a heart-wrenching issue, because our healthcare system is in a mess. This is not the Ghana we all want,” he stated.

The beauty of multiparty democracy, according to Nana Akufo-Addo, is that it presents the Ghanaian electorate with the opportunity, through the thumb, to vote out peacefully this non-performing Mahama government and replace it with a competent NPP government led by Nana Akufo-Addo, come December 6, 2016.

A government under his leadership, Nana Addo explained, will ensure the rapid industrialization of the Ghanaian economy and move this nation from a producer and exporter of raw materials to an economy that will add value to the country’s raw materials. This, he said, is the sure way of creating the hundreds of thousands of jobs needed for the growing masses of unemployed youth.

To restore Ghana back onto the path of progress and prosperity, Nana Akufo-Addo appealed to the delegates to vote massively for him to send a clear message to Ghanaians that the party is focused and united behind its candidate and ready to wrestle political power from the NDC government.