Kumasi, Nov. 11, GNA - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, NPP Presidential Candidate on Monday said the Party had found the key to national development.
He pointed out that the resilient of the economy in-spite of the current global financial crisis and rising prices of crude oil, had demonstrated the greatest skills and ingenuity of the Party to manage affairs of the country.
What is needed, he said was to mobilize public opinion and support for the Party to continue the accelerated development of the country. Addressing a cross-section of the media in Kumasi to round-off his campaign tour of Ashanti Region, Nana Akufo-Addo stressed the need for Ghanaians to ensure that the current democratic dispensation was protected.
"The first thing is to ensure that, the democratic dispensation should not run into trouble so that Ghanaians can continue to enjoy peace and freedom which are pre-requisite to accelerated development," he told the journalists.
Nana Akufo-Addo pointed out that, there was no way the NDC could manage the country's economy in the midst of the current global financial crisis and rising prices of crude oil.
This is because, the NDC failed to properly manage the economy when the crude oil was selling at 36 dollars a barrel and thereby, woefully plunged the country into deep financial and economic crisis which nearly halted any economic activity in the country. What is needed, he said was looking for solution for today and tomorrow's problems of the nation and urged the media to point out the positive achievements of the Party to enable the electorate make informed choices.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the media currently enjoyed unprecedented freedom which had made it very vibrant and stressed the need to ensure that these gains were protected at all times. Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo, former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said the country was at the crossroads as a result of the global financial crisis and this called for trusted skills and knowledge to manage the economy.
He said the prudent management of the economy which had resulted in the stability of the currency, was a clear demonstration that NPP had the skills to continue the management of the economy. Mr Osafo Maafo dispelled speculations that this year's election would be "very close to call" and said indications on the ground were that NPP would win the elections "hands down" and even widen the gap and urged the media to be bold to tell the truth to Ghanaians that NPP had already won the election. Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Director of Nana Akufo-Addo Campaign Team, said this year's election was too important for anybody to stand on the fence.
He said the NPP had committed itself to fine, decent and issue-based campaign, adding that, the Party believed in fair competition of ideas since that would help push the nation's development agenda forward and appealed to the media to support in that direction. Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister for Defence and Director of the Campaign Team in-charge of Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions, commended the media in the Region for playing positive neutrality role so far in the campaign period and urged practitioners to continue in that direction.
He said it would not do anybody any good if Ghana used the election to destroy the peace and stability it was enjoying and appealed to the media to work professionally to prevent acts that could incite people. Mr Akenten Appiah Minka, Ashanti Regional Chairman of Council of Elders of the Party, also commended the media in the Region for showing maturity, tolerance and progress during the campaign period and appealed to them to continue to show complete neutrality, objectivity and fairness to ensure peaceful election.