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General News of Friday, 28 August 2020

Source: GNA

President says military deployment in Volta Region, not an invasion

President Akufo-Addo President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has condemned allegations of ill-faith over the deployment of security personnel in the Volta Region.

He said the deployment of 1,000 security personnel nationwide, of which 163 were in the Volta Region, helped in neutralising the threat of terrorism and imported COVID-19 cases.

It was not to intimidate the people of any Region, he said.

President Akufo-Addo said these at a durbar of Chiefs of the Anlo State during a day's working visit.

"The Volta Region was not singled out for any political operation and there was certainly no political or ethnic agenda.

"We live in a difficult neighbourhood where terrorist activities have become every day matters for many countries in the region especially and regrettably in our immediate northern neighbour Burkina Faso.

"That we have so far been spared the ravages of the terrorists, it is the result of the hard work and constant vigilance of our security services and the grace of the Almighty but we have to be on constant alert and if and when we have to tighten our security along our borders. It is my responsibility to do so and I will do so," he stated.

President Akufo-Addo said the Volta Region remained an "integral part of the Republic of Ghana and military deployments in the region cannot be described as an invasion" and condemned the "frenzy" with which some social media users resorted to falsifying the situation using false media material.

"These have been escalated into accusations of ethnic cleansing, and the government that I lead has been labelled as tribalist," he said, and asked Ghanaians to be circumspect, and not to ruin the unity the Nation was blessed with.

The President noted the relevance the NPP attached to the people of the Region, having appointed natives into "critical roles" in government, and suggested that the measure for discrimination be considered in the distribution of national resources.

"I have been forced to look deep inside me as a result of the virulent language that has been directed at me and at the government I have", he said, and added that the NPP in its "darkest days" drew its "biggest strength" from the Region.

"Even if there was a little tribal brittle bone within my makeup - which there is not, I will not choose the Volta Region as my target. History will not allow me."

"My commitment to the Ghana project is total. The enemy we face is bad governance and poverty and that is what I expend my energy trying to defeat. It is a battle we can only win if we pull in the same direction even if we have different perceptions," he said.

President Akufo-Addo said the nation was on the right path, and asked for the support of all in delivering a transformed nation, and promised to ensure a "free, fair, peaceful and transparent" general elections.

He said the NPP government had delivered "exceptionally" in the "equitable" sharing of the National cake, affecting the lives of many that had been denied.

The President said the Keta harbour project was much on the horizon and revealed that feasibility studies on the project were about concluding, whiles a Legislative Instrument was appended to secure land for its commencement.

President Akufo-Addo commissioned a 12-unit classroom block for the Keta Senior High school under the Senior High School Intervention Project.

He also cut the sod for work to begin on the Keta Water Expansion project.