Kumasi, Feb. 16, GNA - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has stated that there is no sinister motive behind the Representation of the People's Amendment Bill (ROPAB), currently before Parliament.
He said all that the government sought to do was to enfranchise qualified Ghanaians abroad who had been denied their constitutional right to vote for a very long time.
Nana Akufo-Addo urged opponents of the bill to stop spelling doom for the country if it was passed and associating its passage with mayhem and civil strife and gave the assurance that government had put in place secure modalities to ensure its success after detailed scrutiny of the bill.
The Foreign Minister was delivering a lecture organized by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) branch of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) in Kumasi on Wednesday. His topic was: "Ghana, Future Perspective".
He said the passage of the bill was not inimical to the peace and stability of the country, adding that the bill was not a recipe for disorder and therefore asked Ghanaians not to harbour any evil intentions about it.
Nana Akufo-Addo said Ghanaians should rather be supportive of government's efforts at passing the bill into law since it would accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. He cited the setting up of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), the HIPC initiative and the National Health Insurance Scheme as some key initiatives of the government, which were met with stiff opposition but pointed out that at the end of the day, the benefits were there for all to see.
The Foreign Minister entreated people to be tolerant of divergent views and adhere to good democratic principles to enable the country regain her reputation as the hope of Africa.
He expressed optimism that with sound economic policies being pursued by the government, the country was on the threshold of economic emancipation.
Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice-Chancellor, challenged the alumni to bring their experience and expertise to bear on the University for enhanced academic activities.
He asked the graduates to be innovative in their fields of studies since they constituted the backbone of the nation's socio-economic development.