Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in election 2012, on Thursday said the Party would continue to fight for the enhancement of rule of law in the country.
He said the rule of the law was very vital for the socio-economic development of any country which wanted prosperity.
This, he said, had been the tradition of the Party since the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) from which the NPP had its roots.
Nana Akufo-Addo said this during a flag raising ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of the Party at the NPP Headquarters in Accra on Thursday, which attracted a large number of party supporters.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei, Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC and Mrs Anita de Souza, National Women’s Organiser of the NDC were present.
Also in attendance were Mr Ivor Greenstreet, General Secretary of the Convention People's Party, Mr Bernard Monah, General Secretary of the People’s National Convention and Mr Charles Owusu-Asante, Communications Director of Peoples Progressive Party.
The flag was hoisted by Mr K.B. Asante, a founding father of the NPP, assisted by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
Nana Akufo-Addo commended members of the Dankwa/Busia tradition, from which the NPP emerged, for their respect for human rights in the country and urged them to continue with the good fight.
He also commended former President Kufuor and touted him as being the best president Ghana had had since the inception of the 4th Republic, and appealed to members of the NPP not to see their political opponents as enemies and called for love among all Ghanaians.
Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, National Chairman of the NPP, said the celebration of the anniversary served as an affirmation of what the party stood for, and its desire to work for the good of all Ghanaians.
“It also serves as a moment to reflect on how far the party has come, challenges we face and where we are going”, he said, and called on the leadership of the party to ensure that the yearly celebration of the party’s birthday is marked in all the offices of the party across the country.
Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader in Parliament, recounted the significance of the 21st anniversary and said the party was matured enough as it had been able to stand the test of time.
He appealed to members to be calm and be prayerful as the nation awaited the verdict of the Supreme Court in the 2012 presidential election petition.
Dr Kwabena Agyei, called on all to put the interest of the country first in all their endeavours, and appealed to members of the NDC and the NPP not to see each other as enemies because the leadership of the two parties are on good terms with each other.
He praised the NPP for helping to strengthen democracy by choosing to go to the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of the 2012 presidential election instead of doing something contrary.
Dr Adjei said this action had helped to educate Ghanaians more on "our electoral process and would also help bring about electoral reforms".
He said the manner the Supreme Court had handled the electoral petition so far, had demonstrated to the international community that the country had come of age and that the judicial system is strong.